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