Who Is Gary Gensler: Crypto’s Most Controversial Figure?

Gary Gensler’s crackdown on crypto has led to courtroom showdowns, fierce regulatory fights, and growing tension between D.C. and the digital asset world.

Some see him as the sheriff crypto needed—finally bringing rules to an industry that’s long resisted oversight. Others believe he’s stifling innovation and forcing Web3 pioneers to flee the U.S. for friendlier jurisdictions.

His term ended in 2025, but the aftershocks of his policies still shape the financial world.

Who is Gary Gensler? A steadfast regulator committed to order, or the roadblock that kept crypto from evolving?

Check this out: Gary Gensler: The Antihero of Our Time

Crypto’s ‘Wild West’—Gensler’s First Red Flag

In April 2021, when Gary Gensler stepped in as SEC Chair, crypto was booming. Bitcoin had surged past $60,000, and the industry was flooded with new projects, attracting retail investors and hedge funds alike.

But while the market reveled in optimism, Gensler saw chaos. A Wall Street veteran with years at Goldman Sachs and the CFTC, he wasted no time warning that crypto lacked even the most basic investor protections.

Back in August 2021, he didn’t mince words. In a fiery speech, he compared the crypto market to the ‘Wild West’—a place riddled with fraud and deception:

Nothing about the crypto markets is incompatible with securities laws. Investor protection applies regardless of the underlying technology.

For Gensler, there was no gray area: most cryptocurrencies fit the legal definition of securities under the Howey Test, meaning companies handling them needed to register with the SEC.

Crypto exchanges, brokers, and lending platforms were expected to follow Wall Street’s regulatory framework. However, as he later argued, many chose to sidestep compliance, operating in legal uncertainty.

Gary Gensler declares: ‘No honest business should fear the SEC.’ But is the reality so simple? Analyzing his statement and its impact on the crypto space in our review!

Regulation Through Force: How the SEC Declared War on Crypto

Who Is Gary Gensler, and why did his tenure at the SEC become synonymous with legal battles against crypto firms?

Rather than establishing clear regulatory frameworks, Gensler’s SEC embraced an approach critics call “regulation by enforcement”—where lawsuits took precedence over transparent guidelines.

This strategy forced companies into a legal gray area, crippling innovation and driving businesses overseas.

The years 2021 to 2025 saw the SEC intensify its war on crypto, escalating its legal actions at an alarming rate. By 2023, the commission had filed 46 lawsuits, representing a 53% spike from the previous year.

Among those caught in the crossfire were some of the largest crypto firms:

1. In a landmark lawsuit filed in June 2023, the SEC targeted Coinbase, accusing it of illegally operating as an unregistered broker while processing billions of dollars in undisclosed transactions. The case marked one of the most aggressive regulatory moves against a major U.S. crypto exchange.

Adding fuel to the fire, CEO Brian Armstrong later revealed that the SEC had demanded Coinbase remove all assets except Bitcoin, effectively asserting that most tokens were securities—a demand the company refused to comply with.

2. The SEC’s hammer came down on Kraken in February 2023, forcing the exchange to shut down its staking service in the U.S., branding it an unregistered securities offering. Kraken paid a hefty $30 million fine, but pushed back, condemning the regulator’s lack of clear rules.

Jesse Powell, Kraken’s outspoken founder, didn’t hide his disdain, sarcastically remarking: 

All I had to do was fill out a form?

3. The SEC's case against Binance was one of its most aggressive moves yet—13 lawsuits accusing the exchange of misleading investors, unlawfully allowing U.S. users on its international platform, and misusing customer funds.

Gensler condemned Binance, stating it engaged in “intentional regulatory evasion.”

The SEC’s regulatory reach extended beyond Binance—BlockFi, Ripple, and Gemini also faced lawsuits.

Each case fueled volatility, intensifying debates about whether the U.S. was stifling crypto or simply enforcing long-overdue regulation.

AI and crypto under fire? Gary Gensler unveils his master plan — what does it mean for the industry? Read our in-depth analysis!

Gary Gensler’s War on Crypto: Regulation or Overreach?

The SEC’s relentless pursuit of crypto firms under Gary Gensler’s leadership has deepened divisions in Washington

So who is Gary Gensler actually, in terms the crypto industry describes him?

While supporters hail his efforts as necessary enforcement, detractors—including lawmakers—accuse him of regulatory overreach. Even within the SEC, dissent was growing, with Commissioner Hester Peirce slamming the agency’s approach as “patronizing and lazy.”

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, a heavyweight in American business lobbying, took Coinbase’s side in its lawsuit against the SEC, criticizing Gary Gensler’s enforcement-driven approach. According to the Chamber, his policies stifle innovation and push companies out of the U.S. market.

Lawmakers, too, voiced frustration, accusing the SEC of exceeding its mandate by blocking legitimate financial products instead of establishing transparent regulatory frameworks.

In a heated 2023 congressional hearing, Representative Patrick McHenry called out Gensler directly:

Your policies are driving entrepreneurs out of the U.S. and putting America’s economic leadership in danger.

Yet, Gensler didn’t waver. He doubled down, insisting that crypto companies must play by the same securities laws as everyone else.

For him, the message was simple:

No honest business need fear the SEC,

a phrase lifted from the commission’s founding era of the 1930s.

Gary Gensler drops a cryptocurrency investment thread — insights or contradictions? Breaking down his take on crypto in our news coverage!

Gensler’s Battle Against Bitcoin ETFs Ends in Defeat

For years, Gary Gensler waged war against spot Bitcoin ETFs, arguing that the crypto market was rife with manipulation.

But in 2023, a federal appellate court delivered a decisive blow, declaring that the SEC’s refusal to approve Grayscale’s ETF was “arbitrary and without merit.”

Having already allowed futures-based Bitcoin ETFs, the SEC found itself backed into a legal corner—further resistance was no longer an option.

On January 12, 2024, Gary Gensler cast the crucial vote to approve 11 spot Bitcoin ETFs, a moment many in the industry had fought for—but not in the way they expected.

Rather than embracing the potential of digital assets, Gensler framed it as a circumstantial shift, stating:

Circumstances… have changed,” did little to convince the industry.

Most saw it not as a shift in ideology but as a reluctant compliance with a court ruling that left the SEC with no viable alternative.

This decision clashed with years of enforcement actions, leading critics to question whether Gensler's regulatory stance was ever truly coherent—or just reactive to legal and market pressure.

Resignation and Legacy: Who Is Gary Gensler—The Enforcer or the Obstructionist?

Who Is Gary Gensler? That’s what both his critics and supporters debated as he left the SEC on January 20, 2025, perfectly aligned with the changing of administrations.

Markets didn’t hesitate—Bitcoin jumped 40%, with traders betting on a regulatory shift away from Gensler’s enforcement-heavy approach.

Crypto’s top figures cheered his exit, flooding social media with memes ridiculing Gensler. Many in the industry framed his departure as the end of an era of overregulation, hoping the next SEC administration would take a more balanced approach.

Justin Sun offers a job to Gary Gensler — a joke or a serious move? Breaking down the details in our latest news coverage!

But his legacy is impossible to erase. His enforcement crackdowns reshaped the industry, forced companies into strict compliance adjustments, and lit a fire under Congress, accelerating long-stalled discussions on crypto oversight.