SEC Chair Gary Gensler Grumbles About ''Small'' Crypto Industry Getting ''Outsized'' Media Attention Because Of Scams, Fraud

SEC Chair Gary Gensler Grumbles About ”Small” Crypto Industry Getting ”Outsized” Media Attention Because Of Scams, Fraud

BySteven Walgenbach

Updated: 08 May 2024

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Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Gary Gensler dismissed the crypto industry as a ”small piece” of financial markets that gets an ”outsized ratio” of interest from the media because of scams and fraud in the sector.

The overall financial market has a market capitalization of $110 trillion, Gensler said during an interview with CNBC’s Squawk Box on May 7, compared with just $2.4 trillion for the crypto industry.

“Crypto is a small piece of our overall markets,” he said. “But it’s an outsized piece of the scams and frauds and problems in our markets. Much of this field is noncompliant with the protections of our securities laws.”

Media Too Focused On The Small Crypto Market

Asked by the show’s host if media interest is driven by the SEC’s crackdown on the industry, Gensler said it was more a product of where the media’s attention is focussed.

“Think about it, I’ve been on your show, what, a dozen times?’ he said. ”And every show, you ask about crypto.”

The SEC boss then dodged a flurry of questions, including the recent Wells Notice the SEC issued to Robinhood.

Coinbase’s Legal Chief Says Gary Gensler Is Misleading The Market

Investors are not getting the “required or needed disclosures” from the crypto industry, he said, adding that many crypto tokens are “securities under the law of the land, as interpreted by the U.S. Supreme Court.”

“Many of those tokens are securities under the law of the land, as interpreted by the US Supreme Court. So we follow that law.”

Please stop misleading the market—tokens are NOT securities. Their pleadings notwithstanding , your own attorneys have admitted this in court. https://t.co/Ti4Xtpe67s

— paulgrewal.eth (@iampaulgrewal) May 7, 2024

Coinbase legal chief Paul Grewal challenged Gensler’s comments, arguing in a May 7 post on X that he’s misleading the market. ”Tokens are NOT securities,” he said. “Your own attorneys have admitted this in court.”