Today, on the 15th anniversary of the Bitcoin white paper, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler used Halloween as an opportunity to both poke fun at the cryptocurrency’s creator, while reminding crypto companies to comply with securities laws.
In a Tuesday Twitter post, Gensler wrote: “If Satoshi Nakamoto went as Satoshi Nakamoto for Halloween, would we be able to tell?” He added: “Happy 15th anniversary to Satoshi’s famous white paper that started crypto. Any crypto companies that are tricking investors should start treating them to compliance with the securities laws.”
The SEC has taken an increasingly hard stance against the digital asset industry, filing lawsuits against major companies like Binance, Coinbase, and Kraken. The regulator’s main concern is that many of these companies are selling unregistered securities.
However, crypto bigwigs and lawmakers have accused Gensler of not providing enough clarity on the rules. They argue that the SEC chair has regulated by enforcement and is driving innovation overseas.
Gensler has defended this approach, saying that the rules are already clear enough. He has also stated that in the U.S. “we don’t need more digital currency,” and that the industry is “built on noncompliance.”
