Gary Gensler Found Supporting Cryptocurrency Since 2018

Key Points:

• Gary Gensler, following the release of a 2018 video in which he stated that cryptocurrencies are on par with commodities or cash and are not securities.
• On the subject of ICOs, Gensler stated that three-quarters of the market are not ICOs or securities.
• He also mentioned the US, Canadian, and Taiwanese markets as three jurisdictions that adhere to something akin to the Howey Test.

Gary Gensler, the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), has not always been anti-crypto. In fact, an old video shows him claiming that the majority of cryptoassets are commodities.

The crypto community is criticizing Gensler for his hypocrisy after a 2018 video surfaced in which he stated that cryptocurrencies are on par with commodities or cash and are not securities.

A video of Gary Gensler lecturing at a blockchain course in 2018 has surfaced on crypto Twitter. Gensler was a professor of “Blockchain and Money” at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) at the time.

This is what he told students less than five years ago:

“So we already know in the U.S. and in many other jurisdictions that three-quarters of the market are not ICOs or not what would be called securities.”

He stated during the lecture that the debate over whether ICOs are securities is not particularly relevant as a legal or regulatory matter for the majority of the market.

Gensler also identified the United States, Canada, and Taiwan as three jurisdictions that follow something similar to the Howey Test. Several members of the crypto community were taken aback by Gensler’s comments.

ICOs are initial coin offerings, which were used by cryptocurrency companies to raise funds for their projects during the 2017 bull market. The following bear market year saw a nationwide regulatory crackdown on them.

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong responded with a simple “Wow” to a tweet from cryptocurrency researcher zk-SHARK on April 26.

Gensler has reversed his position on what he told MIT scholars during the course in 2018. In 2023, he repeatedly stated that every crypto asset other than Bitcoin is a security. His agency has also cracked down on virtually every aspect of digital assets, from staking to stablecoins.

It’s not the first time Gensler has changed his mind. Footage has surfaced of him promoting Algorand (ALGO) and its technology. Despite this, he labeled ALGO and several other tokens as securities in a recent enforcement action against Bittrex.

As Coincu reported, Congressman Warren Davidson proposed new legislation to replace Gary Gensler with an SEC director.

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Harold

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