In one of his few media appearances since leaving the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in January, Gary Gensler suggested he had no regrets about his approach to crypto enforcement during his four years at the agency.
In a Wednesday interview, CNBC’s Sara Eisen asked the former SEC chair to respond to the agency under Paul Atkins “reversing a lot of what [he] did” regarding crypto policies, saying many investors were “ecstatic” he was no longer heading the commission.
Gensler said he was “proud” of his time at the SEC, that he had made the right decisions regarding regulating digital assets, and reiterated his assertions that crypto was a “highly speculative, very risky asset.”
“We were consistently trying to ensure for investor protection,” said Gensler, in regard to SEC enforcement actions against crypto companies while he was chair. “And in the midst of it, we had a lot of fraudsters: Look at Sam Bankman-Fried, and he wasn’t alone.”
Former SEC Chair Gary Gensler in a Wednesday interview. Source: CNBC
Gensler departed the SEC on Jan. 20, the day US President Donald Trump took office. During his 2024 campaign, Trump had threatened to fire Gensler “on day one” if elected. After leaving office, Gensler returned to a teaching position at the MIT Sloan School of Management.
Related: SEC chair promises notice before enforcement for crypto businesses: FT
Many in the crypto industry criticized the former SEC chair for taking a regulation-by-enforcement approach to digital assets, which resulted in lawsuits against several high-profile companies. Some of those cases were dropped in 2025 at the direction of the SEC under Trump.
Trump proposed that the SEC abandon requirements for quarterly reports
While Gensler served as SEC chair from 2021 to 2025, amid a crypto market downturn, massive fraud through cryptocurrency exchange FTX, and many companies filing for bankruptcy, the agency under Trump has radically changed its approach.
In addition to the lawsuits and investigations against many crypto companies being dropped by acting SEC Chair Mark Uyeda before Atkins’ Senate confirmation, the agency’s leadership has gone on to say that “very few tokens are securities” and introduced streamlined listing standards for cryptocurrency exchange-traded fund approvals.
In what could be one of the most significant policy changes at the SEC to affect investors, Trump said on Monday that the agency should abandon its quarterly reporting requirements for US companies, instead shifting to a twice-a-year model.
Atkins said on Friday that the SEC would “consider that and move forward” after a proposed rule change.
“For the sake of shareholders and public companies, the market can decide what the proper cadence is,” said Atkins.
“I think if the investor base, the buy side, want to keep this, they have to speak up,” Gensler said on Wednesday regarding the proposed change. “For me, I think transparency helps markets. If we go to only twice a year instead of four times a year reporting, the markets will be a bit more volatile.”
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