Gary Gensler, the chairman of the SEC, shared his opinions on how crypto markets should be handled in an opinion piece that was published in the Wall Street Journal on August 22. He compared it to the auto sector and argued that, just as the safety requirements for the auto industry haven’t changed in the last 60 years, neither have the investor protection rules.
According to Gensler, there is no justification for giving digital assets a higher status. They ought to be handled more like capital markets. He also mentioned how the collapse of the crypto loan sites this year hasn’t hurt investors much. Investors are forced to knock on the door of the court since their money has been frozen. The SEC Chair stated:
“There’s no reason to treat the crypto market differently from the rest of the capital markets just because it uses a different technology. Recent market events show why it is critical that crypto firms comply with securities laws. In recent months, some crypto lending platforms have frozen their investors’ accounts or gone bankrupt. When it comes to bankruptcy, these investors have to get in line at the court.”
The US SEC is eager to apply securities regulations to the crypto industry. In this context, the SEC has been engaged in an 18-month legal struggle with blockchain firm Ripple.