During the “Blockchain and Money” class, Gensler suggested that cryptocurrencies should be considered commodities or cash instead of securities. Gensler stated that 75% of the cryptocurrency market is not made up of securities.
The below clip is from a Fall 2018 Graduate MIT course called “Blockchain and Money”
Gary Gensler – the current President of the SEC, was the professor.
The Hypocrisy speaks for itself ????
“So we already know in the US and in many other jurisdictions that 3/4 of the market… pic.twitter.com/rjRWeq5P8X
— zk-???? (@ZK_shark) April 25, 2023
While he acknowledged that the prevalence of initial coin offerings (ICOs) could raise questions about securities, he concluded that the majority of the crypto market do not qualify as a security particularly from a legal standpoint.
Before he was appointed the chief of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Gensler was a MIT professor from 2018 until he was nominated by President Joe Biden in 2021. He was a professor of the Practice of Global Economics and Management at the MIT Sloan School of Management and one of the courses he taught was ‘Blockchain and Money’.
After bitcoin researcher “zk-SHARK” tweeted about Gensler’s 2018 lecture video, members of the cryptocurrency community accused Gensler of hypocrisy, stating that his current stance on cryptocurrencies contradicts his earlier remarks.
Brian Armstrong, who had previously criticized the SEC after his exchange platform Coinbase received a Wells Notice from the regulatory body, responded with “Wow.”
— Brian Armstrong ????️ (@brian_armstrong) April 26, 2023
While some questioned why Gensler’s current stance on cryptocurrencies contradicts his earlier remarks, others accused him of being bought by the banks. Some have also suggested that his role as a professor at MIT may have influenced his perspective.
In a separate video from the same class, Gensler referred to Ripple’s XRP token as a “bridge currency,” contradicting his recent comments that it should be classified as a security. The SEC has also taken this position, leading to an ongoing legal battle over the classification of XRP.
Here’s Gary the MIT professor commentary on Ripple XRP being a bridge currency in 2018 pic.twitter.com/J1Lq9e5FME
— happenings.nft (@happeningsllc) April 26, 2023
It remains to be seen how Gensler will respond to the backlash, but his comments from the 2018 lecture video will likely impact the ongoing debate over how cryptocurrencies should be regulated.
Gensler’s SEC tenure ended in 2025
Gensler announced that he would leave the SEC on January 20, 2025, the day Donald Trump returned to the presidency. His departure became the end of an SEC period that had been defined by aggressive enforcement against crypto companies. The agency had also approved spot Bitcoin ETFs in January 2024, giving traditional investors a regulated way to gain Bitcoin exposure despite Gensler’s broader concerns about the asset class.
Under the new administration, the agency has moved toward a substantially more crypto-friendly framework, while Congress continues to debate legislation that would formally define the regulatory boundaries between digital commodities and securities.
Gensler era and the current regulatory approach is different in 2026
The SEC and Commodity Futures Trading Commission issued joint guidance in March that divided digital assets into categories including digital commodities, digital tools, digital collectibles and stablecoins. The interpretation treated Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP and Dogecoin among major assets as commodities rather than securities, although the agencies noted that classification can depend on the characteristics of individual assets.
The agencies have also been preparing crypto rules while Congress remains stuck on comprehensive market-structure legislation.
Reuters reported in August that the Trump administration’s regulators were moving to fill the gap created by stalled legislation, with the SEC and CFTC preparing rules intended to provide greater clarity for digital assets. The report also noted concerns that agency-created rules could be reversed by a future administration without legislation from Congress.
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