In the speech at the Aspen Security Forum, SEC chairman Gary Gensler disseminated new comments about bitcoin. In the speech, he drew a diving line between bitcoin and its imitators.
Gary established credibility with the bitcoin sector. He recounted the history of the cypherpunk mailing list, citing Satoshi Nakamoto’s email announcing the project and repeatedly validating the network as a “real innovation.” At one point he commented, “[Bitcoin] has been and could continue to be a catalyst for change in the fields of finance and money.”
The topic of discussion at the event was mostly national security. Hence, Gary made clear he supports stringent rules on companies and individuals seeking to build an economy around the protocol. Gensler also remarked that he as well as the SEC would be very interested in the identity of Satoshi Nakamoto.
Although Gensler only singled out Bitcoin by name, he described activities ongoing in the Cryptospace broadly and not always favorably.
“Primarily crypto assets provide a digital scarcity vehicle for speculative investment,” he said, adding: “Generally folks are buying these tokens in anticipation of profits”. In the speech he repeatedly implied that bitcoin was not used by regular people as a unit of account or a medium of exchange.
Gensler also did not comment on to what extent altcoins such as Ethereum should be subject to the same regulations as Bitcoin. Although he noted that the growing ubiquity of other crypto assets, adding: “This is a truly worldwide market”. He continued, “Unlike other trading markets, where investors go through an intermediary like the New York Stock Exchange, people can trade on crypto trading platforms without a broker — 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, from around the globe.”
ETFS And Economic History
Gensler also issued new remarks on how the SEC may act on the ETF proposals up for review by the agency. He signaled that those based on Bitcoin futures may have the highest chance of approval. “Given these important protections, I look forward to the staff’s review of such filings, particularly if those are limited to these CME-traded bitcoin futures,” he said.
Gensler was keen to frame the debate as part of a long history of conflict between private and public monies. He noted an allowance for those backed by the faith and credit of governments. Gensler began his speech by stating, “For those who want to encourage innovations in crypto, I’d like to note that financial innovations throughout history don’t long thrive outside of our public policy frameworks.”
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One can describe some of his statements as the antithesis of the sentiment among Bitcoin investors. He argued for the role of government as one that would continue to add trust to the financial markets.
Gensler concluded: “At the heart of finance is trust. And at the heart of trust in markets is investor protection. If this field is going to continue, or reach any of its potential to be a catalyst for change, we better bring it into public policy frameworks.”
