Professor Gary Gensler vs. SEC Chair Gary Gensler: Crypto Long & Short

If you made a list of people whom the crypto community has taken issue with this year, you’d likely find U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Gary Gensler’s name near the top.

A quick search for his name via social media will deliver a sense of the sentiment currently held towards him. I do not recommend this by the way.

I actually started out as a supporter, for lack of a better term. Even today, I don’t hold any ill will towards him. I don’t know him personally and have no desire to be insulting. I think commentary specific to past statements and present actions are in bounds, however.

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My introduction to Gensler came years ago via the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) “Blockchain and Money” course. Now, keep in mind, I did not attend MIT. Outside of one trip to Fenway Park, I haven’t been within 100 miles of it.

But, in general, I’m very close to my laptop. And MIT did, and still does, offer the “Blockchain and Money” course online for the extremely affordable price of $0.

So, I sat through most of it because, why not? I was interested in blockchain technology, and I loved the price.

I found the course to be measured, informative and detailed. I would recommend that anyone interested in cryptocurrencies take it, to be honest. So, personally, I was pleased when Gensler was named SEC chair in April 2021, as I think many were.

Two years later, I think it’s safe to say that this has changed. As such, I decided to take a second look at the course. Given the current environment, I chose to focus on Lecture 8, which focused on Public Policy.

Granted we have the benefit of hindsight, but perhaps I would find that my disappointment is unfounded. Perhaps present actions are in line with past statements. At the very least I’d get to brush up on policy issues. I started with the assigned readings themselves:

1. “Cryptocurrencies: Oversight of New Assets in the Digital Age,” Gary Gensler (July 18, 2018)
2. “The Future of Money,” Mark Carney, governor of the Bank of England (March 2, 2018)
3. “Nobel-winning economist: Authorities will bring down ‘hammer’ on…