Biden officially names Gary Gensler for SEC chairman post

Cryptocurrency • January 19, 2021, 5:00AM EST
UPDATED: January 19, 2021, 5:04AM EST
The Block

President-elect Joe Biden has officially named Gary Gensler as his pick for chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), confirming previous media reports.

Gensler was chairman of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) from 2009 to 2014, and since November, he has led Biden's transition planning for financial industry oversight.

THE SCOOP

Keep up with the latest news, trends, charts and views on crypto and DeFi with a new biweekly newsletter from The Block's Frank Chaparro

By signing-up you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy
By signing-up you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

As the country's top securities regulator, Gensler, a professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management, will oversee banks, brokers, public companies, as well as the crypto sector. Gensler would likely play a key role in considering a bitcoin exchange-traded fund, given revived efforts to launch one in the U.S. and institutional interest in such investment products.

Gensler, however, is no crypto enthusiast, as The Block's Mike Orcutt wrote in November. But he is blockchain savvy, having served as a senior advisor at the MIT Media Lab's Digital Currency Initiative. Gensler has also publicly commented on crypto projects, including the Facebook-backed Libra, now known as Diem.

Biden's other pick, Rohit Chopra, for director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, has also publicly commented on Libra in the past. Chopra currently serves as a commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission.

About Author

Yogita Khatri is a senior reporter at The Block, covering all things crypto. As one of the earliest team members, Yogita has played a pivotal role in breaking numerous stories, exclusives and scoops. With nearly 3,000 articles under her belt, Yogita holds the records as The Block's most-published and most-read author of all time. Prior to joining The Block, Yogita worked at crypto publication CoinDesk and The Economic Times, where she wrote on personal finance. To contact her, email: [email protected]. For her latest work, follow her on X @Yogita_Khatri5.