SEC Chairman Gary Gensler reiterated his criticism of the crypto industry in an interview with Bloomberg on June 25, stating that the industry is highly concentrated and plagued by “serious misconduct”.
Gensler downplayed the decentralization of the crypto industry, claiming that a few platforms are “centralizing and mixing things that we would never allow elsewhere”.
He cited specific misconduct such as trading against clients, wash trading, and pre-listing investments in contracts.
He pointed out that many “leading figures” in the crypto asset field are either “in jail” or “waiting to go to jail”.
Gensler added, “I know you might scoff at this, but it’s a serious matter, not an overreaction, and it really pertains to protecting investors.”
Gensler mentioned that the misconduct not only involves securities laws, but also the Bank Secrecy Act, Commodity Exchange Act, and anti-money laundering laws.
He said that many crypto asset platforms collaborate with a large number of token issuers, and under national laws and the Supreme Court’s position, these tokens are considered securities without a pre-judgment.
These comments echo Gensler’s previous statements that most crypto assets are securities.
He emphasized that tokens are offered as investment contracts and stated that the American public is not aware of legal disclosure requirements.
Gensler pointed out that intermediaries such as crypto asset exchanges and brokers handle hundreds of assets, raising the question, “Are there no entrepreneurs in the middle of these products? This is somewhat illogical.”
He stated that this issue, combined with misconduct, has led the SEC to file legal actions against numerous companies because the misconduct harms the interests of the general public.
Furthermore, Gensler refused to comment on political issues, including speculation by Mark Cuban that Gensler’s crypto asset policies could cost Biden the election.
Gensler only responded, “I don’t talk about elections, but others can.”
He also declined to comment on the broader political movement sparked by crypto assets.
As for the public’s concern about the approval of a spot Ethereum ETF, Gensler did not provide details, only stating that the process is “progressing smoothly”.