SEC Chair Gensler is Accused of Misdeeds by the Creator of Messari

SEC Chair Gary Gensler was accused of acting in a conflict of interest and working against the cryptocurrency business by Messari creator Ryan Selkis.

“Chair Gensler is a fraud, a destructive force to our capitalist system, and a $100mm ex-banker pulling up the ladder after himself.“

The statement was made in response to SEC accusations that Paxos had broken securities laws when it issued its Binance USD (BUSD) stablecoin.

Ironsights with Cryptocurrency

On February 9, Kraken said that it had been compelled to discontinue its staking service for American clients as a result of SEC enforcement action. As part of the settlement agreement, the cryptocurrency exchange also revealed paying a $30 million fee.

The SEC does not have staking policies, according to SEC Commissioner Pierce, hence there are no requirements for an exchange to comply with staking regulations.

Why is the SEC Focusing in Cryptocurrency?

The SEC wants "to pre-clear" particular cases using present standards, according to Justin Slaughter, a former SEC advisor and current Policy Director at Paradigm, who described recent developments as "a rift between crypto and the SEC."

Slaughter reaffirmed his stance by stating that the lack of regulatory advancement has recently caused him to become "less sympathetic."

“Personally, I was pretty sympathetic to the SEC’s position five years ago (the questions posed by crypto are hard! Learning about a new space takes time), but have gotten less sympathetic since there’s been no progress on regulations over that time.“

Ryan Adams, host of the Bankless Podcast, has a different perspective on the SEC; he claims that compliance is hard for crypto companies to attain.

“This is by design.”

Selkis is Not Amused

Selkis mirrored Adams' attitude and declared that Gensler's political career will be destroyed due to what he saw to be improper enforcement activities.

“My new goal in life is to end @GaryGensler’s political career and make him the reason Biden loses reelection.”

Later, the inventor of Messari tweeted a litany of factors that make Gensler a "disgrace," including his connections to the banking industry, his mispronunciation of Satoshi Nakamoto, and the peculiar association the SEC had with the fraudulent exchange FTX.