SEC Chair Gary Gensler's Resignation Troll On X Goes Viral With 1.6 Million Views, But He's Not Done Yet

SEC Chair Gary Gensler’s Resignation Troll On X Goes Viral With 1.6 Million Views, But He’s Not Done Yet

Updated: 18 April 2024

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A post on X by Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Gary Gensler went viral after it appeared to announce his resignation, prompting 1.6 million views and much disappointment among the crypto community.

“It’s been an honor to serve as Chair,” Gensler said in an April. 17 X post. “Over the past 3 years, I’ve seen firsthand how the incredible staff at the SEC serve investors and issuers alike.”

Gensler, much hated in the crypto community because of his regulation-by-enforcement strategy, continued by outlining many of his achievements in cracking down on malpractices and claiming to have made markets more efficient.

But hopes that it was a resignation note were then crushed by the punch line, ”And we’re not done.”

X user David “JoelKatz” Schwartz said, ”Don’t tease me like that,” while @DefiIgnas said, ”Thought it was a resignation thread! What a disappointment.”

Gary Gensler Created A “Legendary” Troll Thread

But crypto trader Jordan Fish applauded Gensler for creating a “legendary and respectable troll thread.”

The post was an intentional effort to taunt the community, given his “seeming penchant for trolling,” Bloomberg Litigation Analyst Elliott Stein said.

This really does feel like a resignation tweet at first, but then it's clearly not. Gotta think that was intentional, given Gensler's seeming penchant for trolling. https://t.co/gK2TxTZKZo

— Elliott Z. Stein (@NYCStein) April 17, 2024

Under his leadership, the SEC filed over 2,000 enforcement actions that have resulted in $6 billion in civil penalties and $6 billion in disgorgement, Gensler said in the thread.

SEC Chair Criticized For His Aggressive Approach To Regulating The Crypto Space

Crypto-related enforcement actions by the SEC reached a 10-year high under Gensler’s leadership, with 46 actions against crypto firms in 2023. US crypto industry executives and some lawmakers have criticized Gensler for his aggressive approach.

Republican lawmakers chastised him in a Feb. 7 letter, and called the SEC’s handling of a recent case against DEBT Box “unethical and unprofessional. This was after the SEC “undermined the integrity of the proceedings” when it made “materially false and misleading representations.”