SEC Chair Gary Gensler to step down

United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Gary Gensler, known for his hardline stance on cryptocurrency regulation, will depart from the agency on Jan. 20, 2025, the securities regulator said in a Nov. 21 announcement.

Gensler will leave the agency on the same day crypto-friendly President-elect Donald Trump starts his second presidential term, according to the announcement.

“It has been an honor of a lifetime to serve with them on behalf of everyday Americans and ensure that our capital markets remain the best in the world,” Gensler said in a statement.

In July, Trump vowed to “fire” Gensler in a bid to woo crypto enthusiasts ahead of the Nov. 5 US presidential election.

The president has the authority to select a chair to head the SEC, but he cannot force a commissioner to leave the agency entirely, as Gensler plans to do in January.

Under Gensler’s tenure, which started in 2021, the SEC took an aggressive regulatory stance toward crypto, bringing upward of 100 regulatory actions against industry companies.

On Nov. 14, Gensler reiterated his tough stance on crypto enforcement, saying he sought to compel the roughly 10,000 tokens he considers securities to “register and give proper disclosure to the public.”

Gensler cited his agency’s approval of spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) as evidence of his willingness to work with the industry but said some crypto issuers failed to abide by “common-sense rules of the road.”

Trump, who has said he wants to make America “the crypto capital of the world,” promised to replace agency heads, including Gensler, with more industry-friendly appointees.

The President-elect is reportedly considering appointing Summer Mersinger to chair the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), another top US financial regulator.

Mersinger is a Republican CFTC commissioner who has urged the regulator to take a more accommodating stance on crypto.

Trump is also reportedly considering creating a new White House post dedicated entirely to crypto policy.

On Oct. 11, the SEC’s chief enforcer, Gurbir Grewal, stepped down after a stint distinguished by his aggressive policing of the cryptocurrency industry.

Source: https://cointelegraph.com/news/sec-chair-gary-gensler-step-down