SEC Chairman Gensler Holds Firm to His Crypto Stance Ahead of Senate Testimony

The official will testify before the Senate Banking Committee on September 15; in a transcript published earlier, he reiterates the primacy of securities law in crypto regulation.

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler is scheduled to testify before the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs in a hearing titled "Securities and Exchange Oversight United States Commission" on September 15. The transcript of his speech was published in advance.

Gensler has called securities laws the "gold standard" of capital markets. In his comprehensive 13-page discussion of these markets, crypto markets took up about a page and a half, including the footnotes.

According to a @BankingGOP aide at @GaryGensler's Thursday hearing: "Expect @SenToomey and @BankingGOP to argue that Chairman Gensler's pursuit of 'a highly politicized liberal policy agenda has diverted him from fulfilling @SECGov's primary mission to protect investors, maintain

Gensler reaffirmed his belief that most cryptocurrencies are securities. Given this philosophy, he instructed SEC staff to “work directly with contractors to have their tokens registered and regulated, where appropriate, as securities.” He further stated that many intermediaries, such as exchanges, brokers and those with custodial functions, trade in securities and should be registered with the SEC "in some capacity." Additionally, he said:

“Given the nature of crypto investments, I recognize that it may be appropriate to be flexible in the application of e...