SEC Chairman says happy birthday to Bitcoin founder’s whitepaper

Gary Gensler, Chairman of the SEC has tweeted a happy birthday to Satoshi Nakamoto’s whitepaper, which was 14 years old on Monday.

Gensler is an unlikely one to wish Bitcoin a happy birthday given that he has arguably been extremely antagonistic to the entire cryptocurrency ecosystem and appears to want to suppress it to the best of his ability.

Happy 14th birthday to Satoshi Nakamoto’s whitepaper! It has led to innovation and crypto asset investing. Let’s make sure as crypto enters its 15th year that investors get proper protection.

— Gary Gensler (@GaryGensler) October 31, 2022

The SEC chairman acknowledges the innovation that Satoshi Nakamoto brought to the world and mentions the crypto asset investing that grew from this. However, he couldn’t help but add “let’s make sure“ that “investors get proper protection”.

Gensler’s approach

This all seems right and proper, given that Gensler is the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, and as such is there to see that markets function normally and that investors are ‘protected’.

Many investors, especially those who already invest, or who are looking to invest in the crypto sector, might say that Gensler’s approach has been extremely heavy-handed thus far, and that his chosen method of enforcement rather than conversation will only crush and suppress what is an incredibly innovative industry.

Why are you protecting investors from this?

One reply to Gensler’s tweet quoted Eric Voorhees, the founder and CEO of Shapeshift, who said:

“these politicians will always point to how much you would have lost if you were that last person to buy the peak, and then “what are you down so far today”, and sure, there’s a subset of those who have bought, but if you look in aggregate, in general it has been the best performing asset class of the last decade. Why are you protecting people from that?”

Exasperation

The sheer weight of negative comments directed at Gensler appear to tell a story. Granted that many will be pro Bitcoin or crypto, and have a certain bias, but you can certainly see the exasperation that many are feeling towards the leader of an agency that is supposed to be overseeing fair and constructive regulation.

Not much hope from the SEC

So far, the regulation has been missing, and it has been so for many years. The ensuing lack of clarity on the regulatory front has led to the crypto sector being unable to move on with the speed that such innovation brings.

Also, Gensler’s continually negative and sometimes crass comments towards the crypto industry do not give investors much hope that he will regulate with the intelligence and forethought that is needed in this case.

Wishing the Bitcoin whitepaper a happy birthday is one thing, but properly overseeing and regulating Bitcoin, DeFi, NFTs and all the other innovations is quite another. 

Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.