Let's take a deeper look at Gary Gensler and his "attack on crypto"

Gary Gensler is not stupid; he is incredibly intelligent, but that doesn't mean I agree with him. Instead of just saying "F*** GARY," let's look at his history to see if it can help explain his perceived war on crypto.

Private-sector employment shows extensive big bank history

Gary spent almost 20 years working for big bank Goldman Sachs, with stints running their currency trading division and managing their global treasury.

Crypto Experience

As much as we like to depict Gary Gensler as being an old dinosaur that knows nothing about up-and-coming FinTech and crypto, that is not the case. Gary has more crypto experience than most people at the SEC. He is an MIT professor and taught graduate-level courses that include "Blockchain and Money," "FinTech: Shaping the Financial World," "Blockchain and Money," "Crypto Finance," and "Blockchain Lab."

Consumer Protection Experience

While working for the federal government, Gary also took a job with Maryland, becoming the Chairman of the Maryland Financial Consumer Protection Commission. During his stint, the commission enhanced consumer financial protections focusing on predatory lending, student loans, debt collection, and more.

Government Experience

He held federal government positions for over 10 years under Bill Clinton, Barak Obama, and now Joe Biden.

Increasing Regulatory Agency Reach Experience

During Gary's time as the head of Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), he successfully argued to Congress to increase the scope of Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. Dodd-Frank essentially gave put the $400 trillion financial derivatives markets under oversite of him at the CFTC. Previously the CFTC mainly regulated the $35 trillion futures market, now it regulates almost half a quadrillion dollars of trade.

Accounting Standards and Enforcement Experience

Gary helped write the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which increased corporate accounting standards following the Enron fiasco. He also increased the enforcement activities of the CFTC.

Wrapup

• History of increasing oversight of regulatory agencies and expanding their scope
• History of working for consumer protections
• History of being pro accounting and corporate standards
• History of increasing enforcement activities of regulatory agencies
• Deep knowledge of crypto and the blockchain

Current Role as Head of the SEC

The truth is that Gary Gensler cannot do whatever he wants as the head of the SEC. His job is to execute Joe Biden's and the White House's vision for what the SEC should be doing. The White House has publicly said in its 2022 Crypto Fact Sheet that the SEC should "aggressively pursue investigations and enforcement actions against unlawful practices in the digital assets space." I didn't even add the bold text there. It is in bold in the Fact Sheet.

Inside the SEC is the Crypto Assets and Cyber Unit, which Joe Biden increased funding for to increase the division from ~30 employees to ~50 employees. They also renamed the division from the "Cyber Unit."

Is Gary Gensler Against Crypto

Gary Gensler's history shows us that he is a fan of government regulation and oversight in the financial field. He has helped write legislation that has increased that, and he increased the regulatory oversight of the CFTC by ~10X. He also has a history of having concerns for consumer safety. The Biden Administration, his boss, has told him to go after unlawful practices in crypto. It is up to him and the 50 people in the Crypto Assets and Cyber Unit to decide, based on securities laws, what are the unlawful practices in crypto.

The fact is, the more Gary Gensler does enforcement action with his powers in the SEC, the more it will become apparent to everyone that the Biden Administration's way of handling crypto rules and enforcement is stifling the industry in the US and potentially weakening the US in the long-run.