• The head of the US regulatory body of Wall Street, Gary Gensler, compared cryptocurrencies to poker chips and the industry to the “Wild West.”
• He said he has enough authority to act on the crypto industry and that he will.
• To address the problem of stablecoins, the SEC will work in collaboration with financial regulators.

Gary Gensler the Chairman of United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), called once again for cryptocurrency and other digital assets being regulated. The official is concerned that this market, which he compares to the “Wild West”, will continue to grow without law.

“These stablecoins are almost acting like poker chips in the casino right now,” Gensler told The Washington Post. He said that if there is not stricter oversight of the crypto industry, “people get hurt.”

Gensler, who does not hide his rejection of cryptocurrencies, has started a campaign this year for more restrictions to be imposed on users. Gensler does not think that digital currency decentralized by the SEC is an alternative to fiat money.

The SEC Has Sufficient Authority

“History tells us that private forms of money don’t last long,” he shot. He recalled that between the years 1830 and 1860 the United States lived what he called the “era of wild banking” with private money. “All this had a great cost, many problems,” he said.

During the interview broadcast through “Washington Post Live”, the head of the regulator said that the SEC has strong authority and will use it, in accordance with existing laws, to regulate the crypto industry in general.

According to him, when dealing with stablecoins the agency should coordinate its actions with other regulators in the financial industry. They will then be able guarantee that the sector’s regulatory matters are not deregulated.

On The Flipside

• In early August the official asked Congress for more power to regulate cryptocurrencies and their market.

“Certain rules related to crypto assets are well settled. The test to determine whether a crypto asset is a security is clear,” Gensler commented while speaking at the Aspen Security Forum held in Colorado. And he added: “we have taken and will continue to take our authorities as far as they go”.

At that time Gensler said there were “some loopholes in this space: we need more authority from Congress to prevent transactions, products and platforms from falling through regulatory fissures.”

The SEC chief also asked legislators for “more resources to protect investors in this growing and volatile sector.” He considers that the way the cryptocurrency market is currently operating is the “Wild West”, that is, a territory without law.

Why you need to care

• Gensler says that crypto assets can be used as speculative instruments.
• The SEC affirms that cryptocurrency is not used to fund a bank account or fulfill all functions associated with money.

Gensler taught classes about cryptocurrencies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology before he took over as the SEC’s chief executive officer.

According to Gensler, investors are not protected enough by the SEC’s current structure. “This asset class is plagued with fraud, scams, and abuse in certain applications,” Gensler said.

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