In a recently released video, SEC’s Gensler claims that bitcoin and ether are “not securities.”
The Gensler of 2018 seemed to be considerably more understanding of several cryptocurrencies, including Ether.
On social media, a recently discovered video of Gary Gensler from 2018 has gone viral, in which the current chair of the US securities regulator asserts that various cryptocurrencies are “not securities.”
The video, believed to be from a Bloomberg event for institutional investors in 2018, was uploaded on June 12 by a bunch of Twitter accounts.
Over 70% of the cryptocurrency market is made up of Bitcoin, Ether, Litecoin, and Bitcoin Cash. why did I choose those four names? In the video, Gensler states that they are not securities.
https://twitter.com/twobitidiot/status/1668328519334780928?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1668328519334780928%7Ctwgr%5Efa1276bdb08048a716a5452fadc9e489698ab62c%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fcointelegraph.com%2Fnews%2Fsec-gary-gensler-in-2018-video-says-btc-eth-not-securities
The video was created at the time when Gensler was a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and it was around two years before he was named chief of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
It seems to be in contrast to Gensler’s more recent SEC actions, which saw the regulator launch a flurry of enforcement actions against the cryptocurrency market in recent months.
He has asserted that all cryptocurrencies, other than Bitcoin, are securities in his capacity as SEC chairman. None of the four cryptocurrencies referenced in the 2018 video has been included on the SEC’s list of at least 68 cryptocurrencies that have been classified as securities in various lawsuits.
Read more: Binance Lawsuit: The SEC Now Considers 61 Cryptocurrencies To Be Securities
The comments that are made in the video, on the other hand, are another contradiction to Gensler’s more recent opinions on Ether. In April, a U.S. House Committee urged the SEC chairman for an answer on whether ETH was a security, but he refused.
Gary Gensler and Representative McHenry arguing on whether $ETH is a commodity or a security, with Gensler unable to answer the question 👇 pic.twitter.com/DTMtazYmuS
— Cointelegraph (@Cointelegraph) April 19, 2023
This year, additional videos of Gensler from around the time he attended MIT have also come to light showing him discussing crypto in a similar manner.
In an April 2019 video that went viral, Gensler referred to Algorand as “great technology.” The SEC sued Bittrex, the cryptocurrency exchange, during the same week the video went viral, alleging in its lawsuit that ALGO was security. Many in the crypto community called the SEC chair a hypocrite.
In another video from 2018 that went viral in April, Gensler was a professor at MIT and asserted that “non-securities” accounted for three-quarters of the market.
The below clip is from a Fall 2018 Graduate MIT course called "Blockchain and Money"
Gary Gensler – the current President of the SEC, was the professor.
The Hypocrisy speaks for itself 🐀
"So we already know in the US and in many other jurisdictions that 3/4 of the market… pic.twitter.com/rjRWeq5P8X
— zk-🦈 (@ZK_shark) April 25, 2023
Gensler continued, “It’s just a commodity, cash, crypto.”
Despite the fact that Gensler made comments before he was appointed to lead the SEC, many in the cryptocurrency industry have criticized him for acting in a hypocritical manner. A U.S. lawmaker proposed a bill to remove Gensler from his position on the grounds that he was misusing his authority.