Former SEC Chairman Repeats Stance, Labeling Vast Majority of Crypto as Speculative

Gary Gensler warns of crypto risks, calling most assets "highly speculative."

Former Chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Gary Gensler has once again cautioned investors about the risks associated with cryptocurrencies, labeling most assets as “highly speculative.” He made these remarks in an interview with Bloomberg.

In his view, only Bitcoin fits the definition of a commodity, while other coins do not offer “dividends” or “ordinary returns.”

Gensler emphasized that the current state of the crypto market is precisely the situation he feared during his tenure as chairman — the global public’s interest in the class of digital assets does not align with their fundamental principles.

“Thousands of other tokens, and I’m not even talking about US dollar-backed stablecoins, but thousands of others. One must ask: what is their fundamental? What underpins them? Investors need to be aware of these risks,” the former official stated.

When asked if the current situation is a result of President Donald Trump’s administration, the former SEC head disagreed. He noted that it is more about the fairness of capital markets and “sensible rules of the road” than “a battle between Democrats and Republicans.”

Regarding ETFs, Gensler remarked that finance has “been moving towards centralization since ancient times,” so the integration of blockchain with the traditional financial system did not surprise him.

Back in September, the SEC reported the loss of Gensler’s correspondence from October 2022 to September 2023, which was also related to crypto regulation.