Crypto racks up another DC win as Gary Gensler exits
11/22/2024 02:58
Crypto enthusiasts got the announcement they wanted when Gary Gensler said he would step down from the SEC, clearing the way for a more favorable relationship between the cryptocurrency industry and a key Washington regulator.
Crypto enthusiasts got the announcement they wanted Thursday when Gary Gensler said he would step down from the SEC in January, clearing the way for a more favorable relationship between the cryptocurrency industry and a key Washington regulator.
A Gensler exit as chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission was high on the wish list of many crypto executives, and President-elect Donald Trump made the removal of the SEC boss a promise to the industry while on the campaign trail.
The change at the top of the SEC is the latest of several signs that cryptocurrency is in a position to become a key focus for the new administration once it takes office in 2025.
Another was a report this week of discussions within the Trump transition team of creating the first-ever White House post dedicated to cryptocurrency policy, according to Bloomberg.
The optimism pushed Bitcoin (BTC-USD) to a fresh all time high of $98,374 per coin as of Thursday afternoon, putting it in striking distance of $100,000. At the beginning of the year, the world's largest cryptocurrency traded at $42,265.
Gensler spent much of his tenure clashing with the biggest players in the cryptocurrency world as the SEC filed lawsuits against major digital asset companies, including US cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase (COIN).
Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal hinted at the feud with Gensler on X Thursday after the SEC boss announced his plans to depart on Jan. 20.
"My mom always told me if I didn't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all," Grewal said in his post. "So I'm just gonna sit this one out."
The SEC on Thursday cited Gensler's actions against the cryptocurrency industry as among the chairman's accomplishments while in office.
"I thank President Biden for entrusting me with this incredible responsibility," Gensler said in a statement. "The SEC has met our mission and enforced the law without fear or favor."
Trump has been meeting with crypto industry figures this week, including Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong on Monday, as he thinks about who should run the SEC next and how he can serve the industry he promised to help.
Trump has pledged to appoint a crypto presidential advisory council comprised of people "who love your industry, not hate your industry" within 100 days, and he wants to establish a "strategic national bitcoin stockpile" with the help of Congress.
"The main request of investors, of institutions, of companies has been, 'we'd like clear regulation," Bitwise Asset Management CEO Hunter Horsley told Yahoo Finance on Wednesday.
The possibility of a White House role dedicated to crypto and the larger dialogue with the industry are "really promising, and I think it's all happening, and it's happening for real," Horsley added.
The crypto industry spent more than $130 million this fall to elect more industry-friendly politicians, and that work is now paying off.
Not only did the US elect Trump, but the citizens of Ohio elected pro-crypto candidate Bernie Moreno to the US Senate. Moreno’s victory means the Senate will be controlled by Republicans in 2025, spurring optimism that pro-crypto legislation could be possible in Washington, D.C.
"Being anti-crypto is actually bad politics," Coinbase CEO Armstrong said after the election on X in a post that included a picture of the Ohio Senate race where Sherrod Brown, a known critic of digital assets, lost to Moreno.
Coinbase is expected to be a major beneficiary of pro-industry regulation.
"The most important policy is a direction from the president, through the secretary of Treasury, through the OCC the SEC, the FDIC, to allow US players to participate," Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz told Yahoo Finance on Wednesday.
David Hollerith is a senior reporter for Yahoo Finance covering banking, crypto, and other areas in finance.