Gary Gensler Releases Statement Suggesting Resignation from the SEC

Gary Gensler, the chair of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), may be stepping down from his leadership role at the financial agency. In a recently published speech, he hinted at a possible resignation while sharing insight into his three-year experience with the regulatory agency.

Notably, Gensler’s latest speech comes after the newly re-elected U.S. president, Donald Trump, stated that he would fire the SEC chairman if he won the election. Gensler’s potential resignation may be seen as a way of avoiding a forced exit before Trump fulfills his promise.

Gensler to be Replaced

Gensler’s time at the SEC was focused on regulating cryptocurrencies, often with a tougher approach. He has led several actions against crypto companies, classifying digital assets as securities, which brings them under strict SEC rules. Nonetheless, the agency’s chair grouped BTC, ETH, and stablecoins as non-securities.

His actions have faced backlash from the crypto industry as some lawmakers argue that the SEC’s policies are too harsh and drive innovation away from the U.S. Fox Business journalist Eleanor Terrett revealed via an X tweet that 18 Republican Attorneys General are suing the SEC for its “unconstitutional overreach and unfair persecution” of the crypto industry.

🚨SCOOP: 18 U.S. states have filed to sue the @SECGov and its commissioners, accusing them of unconstitutional overreach and unfair persecution of the #crypto industry under the leadership of agency chief @GaryGensler.

The lawsuit, signed by 18 Republican Attorneys General,… pic.twitter.com/wxOovuIRQH

— Eleanor Terrett (@EleanorTerrett) November 14, 2024

Impact on Crypto Industry

Market experts believe Trump will replace Gensler with a crypto-friendly SEC chairman. If this happens, it might signal a shift toward a more supportive regulatory environment for the crypto industry.

Certain crypto-based services, like staking, which the financial regulator forcefully halted, could return to the country under a crypto-friendly chairman. Companies that abandoned the U.S. markets to expand their crypto services to other countries may return to the country as there would be clearer, less restrictive guidelines for crypto firms.