Crypto Opponent Gary Gensler to Resign as SEC Chairman on Trump Inauguration Day

According to him, Gensler will step down as head of the SEC and leave the agency on January 20, 2025. The inauguration is scheduled for the same day. “The Securities and Exchange Commission is a unique organization. <...> Real government employees work here. “It has been an honor to work with them on behalf of ordinary Americans to ensure our capital markets remain the best in the world,” Gensler said, quoted in the statement.

He headed the commission in April 2021, shortly after the events surrounding GameStop stock price manipulation. Under Gensler’s chairmanship, the SEC is committed to “improving the efficiency, robustness, and transparency of the United States capital markets,” with a focus on “protecting the interests of investors in the cryptocurrency markets,” according to the statement.

“In the last fiscal year, 18% of all referrals, complaints and signals received by the SEC were related to cryptocurrencies, despite the fact that cryptocurrency markets represent less than 1% of the total volume of the capital markets of United States,” the commission said. .

Under Gensler, the SEC accused FTX creator Sam Bankman-Fried of fraud, filed charges against Binance, and waged legal disputes with crypto exchanges Coinbase and Kraken and other cryptocurrency companies. The strict regulation of the cryptocurrency market has affected Gensler’s reputation in this environment.

Trump, speaking at the largest US Bitcoin conference in July 2024, promised to fire Gensler and turn the country into the “crypto capital of the world.” According to The Washington Post, the politician intends to appoint cryptocurrency supporters to key positions in US financial departments.

According to the newspaper’s interlocutors, former commission member Daniel Gallagher, who now works at Robinhood, a company that offers cryptocurrency wallets and stock trading services, could become SEC chairman during Trump’s presidency. Previously, he accused the SEC leadership of regulating the cryptocurrency market too strictly. Other candidates include SEC Commissioners Hester Pierce and Mark Uyeda, former Commissioner Paul Atkins, and former Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Commissioner Chris Giancarlo.