Here is a CNBC video of Gary Gensler speaking about the need for regulation and enforcement, rules, and securities laws in 'crypto'. 'Protecting investors' and what-not.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rl628OFEGWA
SEC Chair Gary Gensler on crypto: This field will not long persist without investor protection
I get a little frustrated and kind of peeved sometimes... when I hear these references to 'crypto' and 'innovation' and the 'crypto industry'. 'Crypto', that is OUTSIDE of BITCOIN is 99.9% scams, fraud, and unregistered securities trading.
It's all trading, and trading, and trading and creating tokens and tokens to market on 'telegram' or twitter... and it is overwhelmingly fraudulent and of little substance. And worse, the Coinbase and Krakens of the world have hired lobbyists, sent them to Washington DC successfully, to try to confuse SOME politicians that the SEC is getting in the way of 'innovation'. That innovation is "going overseas". Absolute Bullshit.
Friends, a group of Nigerians in a basement creating the next air-token yoyo-coin is NOT financial innovation. A pump-and-dump yoyo-coin, the next dog-coin, the next air-token 'defi coin'... it's all a HUGE distraction and it confuses the public.
It does nothing but confuse the public and delay the Bitcoin revolution.
Another article about GG:
https://cryptoslate.com/sec-chair-gensler-reaffirms-bitcoins-commodity-status-criticizes-industrys-disregard-of-rules/
From the article:
While Bitcoin’s regulatory status is clear, Gensler criticized the broader crypto industry for its widespread disregard for existing regulations. He accused many market participants of ignoring rules and seeking exemptions from compliance.
According to Gensler:
“There are rules in place, but many have chosen to ignore them.” He added that this non-compliance has contributed to instability and confusion within the market.
My take? The Coinbase, Binance, and even Krakens in the world know that the overwhelming vast majority of the 'Crypto' space and 'Crypto' innovation and 'Crypto' trading is unregistered securities dealing. It passes the Howey test - an investment of money in a 'project' (absolute bullshit) in a 'common enterprise' (with your 'community') with the expectation of profit (1000x) based on the 'efforts of others' (the scammers and 'founders' and 'creators' of the project).
Create 1000 new yoyo-coins on Solana?
They're unregistered securities if they're on US exchanges.
Where is the investor protection? Where are the disclosures?
How many 'tokens' are there for the insiders and 'founders' (an outrageous term).
How big was the 'premine'? What did it 'cost' to make the tokens? (Basically Nothing).
How many 'nodes' are there? (Probably one if that?)
And if there's one node, or very few WHY is it a BLOCKCHAIN? BLOCKCHAINS ARE SLOW AND EXPENSIVE.
It's like hey let's create a gray-market internet casino, that ultimately burns to the ground and GOES TO ZERO, and call it 'innovation' where people can 'get rich quick'. Ya that's 'crypto' and if we 'block it' then we're BlOcKiNg InNoVaTiOn and it's "going overseas" which is imo 99.9% NOT true.
All this does is confuse the market and cause instability.
If I create a 'poop-token' and everyone thinks it's 'going up' so puts money 'in the box' and it consequently goes up... then I sell all the premined tokens WITHOUT ANY INVESTOR DISCLOSURES it's
- really scammy and
- do we think this is a good thing? Is this innovation?
There are A LOT of people who associate the yoyo-coins with crypto, A LOT that's all they think crypto is.
- 'Making money' with the 'yoyo-coins'
- 'making money with your friends on the internet' (your 'community' probably on Telegram)
- making that 1000x on Telegram (which is FILLED which scams)
- ???
And then the 'exchanges' that facilitate this unregistered-securities dealing and lack of investor protection... say the "Rules aren't Clear" and they want "Regulatory Clarity". They want to "innovate" so the US doesn't get "Left Behind" they don't want to be 'stifled'. It's 99.9% Bullshit it's outrageous.
Ethereum would be the absolute bare minimum which could qualify as not-a-security... and EVEN THEN the SEC has NOT said that it's NOT A SECURITY.
From the same article:
In contrast, Ethereum, the second-largest crypto, has faced a more ambiguous regulatory environment. The SEC has yet to classify Ethereum as either a security or a non-security, leaving projects built on its blockchain under ongoing scrutiny. [Added context: this really means we want to DELIST this CRAP except we can't quite get it through the courts... and the lawyers at Coinbase have really deep pockets.]
Despite this uncertainty, the SEC has approved Ethereum-based ETFs but simultaneously initiated investigations into companies associated with the Ethereum ecosystem, such as Consensys and Uniswap. [Because they are centralized/dishonest].
I believe that the SEC is absolutely not without fault, where were they for the FTX, Celsius, Blockfi debacles... However this conversation is being steered in the wrong direction by the 'crypto' people.
The SEC chair stated:
“This field will not long persist if you can’t build that investor trust in the markets.”
And by 'this field' he means the 99% unregistered securities, not-bitcoin distractions, that confuse the markets and go to ZERO anyway.
If bitcoin is to become money and a daily medium of exchange (which I think it will EVENTUALLY) then all the crapto stuff needs to be cleaned up and frankly done-away with. It needs to get delisted, sued, and eliminated from the exchanges so that the world can focus on the only 'Crypto' (a TERRIBLE term) that actually matters long term - Bitcoin.
Then we can focus on removing captial gains taxes or OTHER reforms to help people spend Bitcoin legally and transparently - but until crypto is eliminated it (this distraction) takes the air of the room and delays Bitcoin adoption and education in my opinion.
How many people would be victimized by scammers if Crypto goes to Zero and Bitcoin were a part of their daily lives for spending? Why buy the 'yoyo-coin' when you have Bitcoin to spend on your groceries and cup-of-coffee and get on with your life?