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Gensler Ditches Favorite Crypto Broadside in Latest Media Appearance – DL News
- SEC Chairman Gary Gensler said crypto firms need to strengthen their disclosure.
- But Gensler has abandoned more forceful language and adopted an overall softer tone towards cryptocurrencies.
Crypto firms must disclose more information about their tokens, Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler said Wednesday CNBC.
But his statements were notable for what they left out: the claim that “most” crypto tokens were securities subject to SEC oversight.
It was the latest indication that the political winds were changing in Washington.
In a surprise move last month, the SEC approved spot Ether exchange-traded funds. Additionally, more than 70 House Democrats broke ranks to vote cryptocurrency legislationa move seen as an important symbolic victory for the sector.
“At this time, without prejudice to anyone, these tokens, be they Jim ones [Cramer] listed or other tokens, they have not provided you with the information you need to not only make your own investment decisions,” Gensler said, referring to the CNBC guest, who had asked whether the SEC would approve spot ETFs for the BONK memecoin.
In previous appearances this year, Gensler had used similar language stating that most tokens are securities, a classification vehemently opposed by the industry.
“Here we have one asset class, all 15 of these [thousand]20,000 crypto tokens, many of which, without prejudice to anyone, many of which are something called investment contracts or securities,” he said on CNBC in February.
Nonetheless, Gensler continued to suggest Wednesday that he views the sector as a financial “Wild West.”
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“These cryptocurrency exchanges, Jim? They are doing things that we would never allow the New York Stock Exchange to do. Our laws will not allow you to do business against your customers,” he said.
“Some of the most prominent members of this camp are in prison, on the verge of going to prison or awaiting extradition.”
Aleks Gilbert is a DeFi correspondent at DL News. Do you have advice? Send him an email at aleks@dlnews.com.