Gary Gensler, the chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the United States, has been accused of hypocrisy by the cryptocurrency community after a video of a lecture he gave at MIT in 2018 surfaced online on April 26, 2023.
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.
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.
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
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.
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