New SEC Chairman Unveils Policies for Cryptocurrencies, Calls Bitcoin ‘Scarce Store of Value’

The new chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Gary Gensler, has shared his view on how the SEC plans to regulate cryptocurrencies, particularly bitcoin. He calls bitcoin “a digital, scarce store of value” and stresses the need to put in place some investor protections for this asset class.

New SEC Chairman Talks About Bitcoin, Crypto Regulation

SEC Chair Gary Gensler talked about cryptocurrency policies and bitcoin in an interview with CNBC Friday. Gensler taught classes at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in financial technology, cryptocurrency, and blockchain technology. He was confirmed as the new SEC chairman last month.

Replying to a question about how he would regulate cryptocurrencies, the chairman replied, “To the extent that something is a security, the SEC has a lot of authority.” Noting he will refer to cryptocurrencies as “crypto tokens,” the former MIT professor emphasized that “a lot of crypto tokens … are indeed securities.”

He then referenced work done by the prior chairman and the SEC under his leadership. “The prior SEC brought numerous enforcement actions to sort of bring some of these security or investment contract…