SEC's Gensler Wants Greater Scrutiny for Crypto Exchanges: Report

Chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Gary Gensler wants to apply greater pressure on crypto exchanges to bring them inside the market regulator's purview.

• Gensler aired his concerns about the dangers to consumers if crypto exchanges are not properly regulated in a virtual press conference on Wednesday, according to a report by Bloomberg.
• "I've asked staff to look at every way to get these platforms inside the investor protection remit," he said.
• "If the trading platforms don't come into regulated space, it'd be another year of the public being vulnerable," he added.
• Gensler had previously expressed his desire to see crypto exchanges registered with the SEC for the purposes of investor protection.
• In December, he said in an interview that exchanges are "doing a lot more than just trading," given how they also hold crypto tokens and sometimes trade against their customer base.
• Gensler, during his nine-month reign as chairman of the SEC, has maintained his stance that most crypto tokens are akin to securities and are therefore within the remit of the regulator.

Read more: SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce Says Washington Doesn’t Need a New Crypto Regulator