It wouldn’t be in the interest of crypto if it continues to remain an unregulated space otherwise it would be the end of the industry, says Gary Gensler, the Chairman of Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC). SEC has been continuously criticized by Government Officials, Senators as well as several philanthropists for its delay in furnishing crypto regulation but instead of being concerned about the regulation, SEC has been taking strict actions against the industry.
Code Conference was held on 27th September 2021 in California which was attended by SEC’s Chairman as well as the ex-federal prosecutor.
Gary Gensler, Chairman SEC, discussed that there are several venues within the US crypto sector where trading/lending is accessible to consumers. On these trading/lending venues, there are more than thousands of tokenized form of crypto are available to the buyers. In this situation, it would be preposterous if the crypto market is allowed to remain as an unregulated market/space. Otherwise, there is a huge risk that the consumers will be harmed and suffer irreparable losses. It is therefore in the interest of the US consumers if the crypto venues are regulated within the exclusive purview of the US regulators.
Gensler warned that “non-regulation” will not be in anyone’s favor i.e. national economy, consumers, crypto as well as for regulators.
He pointed out that in less than 1 and a half year, the crypto industry has increased 10 times. It is not the same as it was at the end of 2019. Before 2020, the crypto industry was weighed against crypt asset value but now lending is also there in the market. Even as of today, the industry continues to grow exponentially and therefore requires urgent implementation of the regulatory framework. Otherwise, there will be so many problems that nobody would then be able to address.
Previously in August, SEC Chairman had suggested that he wanted to see crypto utilizing its full potential. However, until the regulation was not put in place, there is no way crypto would be able to witness its full potential. There is a lot of stake involved in the industry now which cannot be left at the whims and fancy of anyone except for the regulators. Gensler’s viewpoint was taken further ahead by Larry Summers who was once the Secretary of US Treasury. Summers said that people should realize that the crypto industry shouldn’t be recognized as a “libertarian paradise”. If it is an industry, which everyone believes, then every industry of the world is regulated.
Gensler has been arguing time and again that several tokens within the crypto space are securities. They are required to be separated from tokenized crypto. However, in doing so, SEC would be needing state funding as well as additional minds for employing regulation.