Presidential Candidate Vivek Ramaswamy Attacks SEC's Crypto Regulation, Says Gary Gensler “Embarrassing”

Presidential Candidate Vivek Ramaswamy Attacks SEC’s Crypto Regulation, Says Gary Gensler “Embarrassing”

Updated: 11 December 2023

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Presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy slammed the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), its chair Gary Gensler, and the nation’s regulatory framework for failing to rein in bad actors.

“Fraudsters, criminals, and terrorists have been defrauding people for a long time,” said Ramaswamy, speaking at last week’s presidential debate. “Our regulations need to catch up with the current moment. The fact that SBF [Sam Bankman-Fried] was able to do what he did at FTX shows whatever they have as a current framework isn’t working.”

Gensler Not Able to Say Whether ETH Is a Security

Ramaswamy lambasted Gensler for being unable to explain whether Ethereum is a security at a hearing, saying it was ”nothing short of embarrassing.”

In a congressional hearing held in April, House Financial Service Committee Chairman Patrick McHenry repeatedly asked the SEC’s chair about Ether’s security status.

Ramaswamy also said the “administrative state” had gone too far and that “the people who we elect to run the government are not the ones who are even actually running the government. It is the bureaucrats in those three-letter agencies that are writing regulations that Congress never gave them the authority to write.”

Vivek Ramaswamy Calls For Change In Crypto Regulation

Ramaswamy has been a vocal critic of the SEC’s approach to regulating the cryptocurrency industry, and has often stressed that he would rein in the SEC if he becomes president.

Ramaswamy also unveiled his “Three Freedoms of Crypto” policy framework on Nov. 16 at the North American Blockchain Summit in Fort Worth, Texas.

🍿@VivekGRamaswamy and @RonDeSantis talk crypto in the GOP primary debate pic.twitter.com/mQEPAmhfT5

— Taylor Barr (@taylorjbarr) December 7, 2023

“As President, I will ensure that innovative sectors, from crypto to energy to drug discovery, are liberated from the shackles of the unconstitutional shadow government,” he said.