Gary Gensler, a Washington and Wall Street veteran who has closely studied the cryptocurrency field, is expected to be named chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the next several days by President-elect Joe Biden, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Wednesday.
- A former chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), Gensler served as a key financial regulator for former President Barack Obama, spearheading new derivatives rules after the 2008 financial crisis. He also served in the Treasury Department during the Clinton administration.
- More recently, he has also testified before Congress about cryptocurrency and blockchain on multiple occasions, pushing back against comparisons between cryptocurrencies and Ponzi schemes and declaring that the still-unlaunched libra token met the requirements of being a security under U.S. law.
- At MIT's Sloan School, Gensler taught a course on cryptocurrencies and blockchains, calling the technology "a catalyst for change in the world of finance and the broader economy."
The story is developing and will be updated.
Disclosure
The leader in blockchain news, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups.