Gary Gensler, chair of the SEC, otherwise referred to as the US Securities and Exchange Commission maintains that the blockchain revolution initiated by Satoshi Nakamoto back in 2008 is more than just a craze. He, instead, considers it an actual value proposition for the future of the internet.
When being interviewed by the Aspen Security Forum earlier this week, Gary Gensler spoke of this position at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology when educating about the intersection of technology and finance. During that lecture, he referred to Nakamoto’s innovation as “real”.
Gensler remarked that while some individuals in the public sector wish for cryptocurrencies to just go away, the technology potentially has a great part in terms of the future of finance. He added that he believes there is something real about DLT, or the distributed ledger technology shifting value on the internet.
Some in the cryptocurrency community felt that Gensler’s remarks meant that he has researched the blockchain field in all its entirety and come to a conclusion that Bitcoin is the only true innovation. A transcript of Gensler’s speech to the Aspen Security Forum seemed to be almost entirely focused on Bitcoin white paper issued by Satoshi Nakamore more than ten years ago.
Gensler stated in his remarks that in essence, Nakamoto was attempting to create a more private form of money having no central intermediary, in other words, central or commercial banks. Even though he recognized that no one digital currency extensively fulfills all the functions of fiat currencies such as the dollar, he stated that assets such as Bitcoin offer a separate value proposition.
He expressed that cryptocurrency assets offer virtual, “scarce vehicles” for risky investment. As a result, they can only be considered exceedingly “speculative” stores of value.
After being established by the Senate Banking Committee in April 2021, Gary Gensler took the role as SEC chair in the month of June, whereby taking the place of Jay Clayton whose term had ended that same month. Gensler’s term, which lasts five years, is set to last through 2026. He is adamant about establishing a “robust” supervisory framework for virtual currencies in the United States, specifically in developing decentralized finance markets like lending.
Gensler revealed the SEC’s desire to establish safeguards for cryptocurrency investors in the US. In an interview with Bloomberg, he essentially stated that anyone wanting to speculate, can. However, it is their role as a nation to keep investors safe from fraud.
