SEC Chair Gary Gensler Hints at Exit Amid Trump’s Victory

Key Points:

• SEC chair Gary Gensler hinted at a possible resignation after President-elect Donald Trump’s win.
• Gensler defended his regulatory approach in a recent speech, highlighting his achievements, especially in crypto regulation and enhanced transparency measures.

Following months of speculation about his fate after the Nov election victory of President-elect Donald Trump, SEC chair Gary Gensler has apparently signalled a possible exit from the agency.

Read more: Trump’s Removal of SEC Chair Gary Gensler Will Give Crypto Industry Hope 

SEC Chair Gensler Signals Potential Exit Following Trump’s Election Win

Donald Trump repeatedly pilloried the regulatory approach of SEC chair Gary Gensler and promised to terminate him, though he is prohibited by statute from firing Gensler directly. Trump could, however, remove Gensler from office and appoint a commissioner as acting chairman, a development that customarily occurs when a new administration comes into office.

Speaking at the Practising Law Institute’s annual conference on securities regulation, Gensler looked back on his tenure at the SEC and his accomplishments during the meeting. He took on the role in April 2021, and ever since, he has called for increased transparency and regulations in the crypto market. The SEC chair said the crypto market has taken “five to seven percent” of the SEC’s enforcement actions since 2018.

Gensler’s ouster is welcome news for an industry that has been brutally suppressed by him. MicroStrategy’s Michael Saylor told CNBC that the replacement of SEC chair Gary Gensler is “incredibly bullish for digital assets.”

18 States Sue SEC Over Crypto Oversight as Leadership Shift Looms

The crypto policymaking of SEC chair Gary Gensler has proved divisive, with some hailing the actions as a needed protection for investors, while others-particularly those in the industry, are overly restrictive. On his watch, the agency approved the first Bitcoin futures ETF in 2021 and more recently gave the green light to physically-backed Bitcoin and Ether ETPs.

Among his many notable accomplishments at the helm are new disclosure rules requiring companies to report data breaches, disclose executive compensation relative to performance, and significantly stake over five percent in ownership.

Adding to that litany of challenges, 18 states also filed a lawsuit recently against the Commission and Gensler for overreach in regulating the crypto sector.