Crypto Industry Betting On Trump To Oust Gary Gensler As SEC Chief

Bitcoin has been on a bull run since the US election, with crypto enthusiasts eagerly awaiting news of how Donald Trump will meet his pre-election promises of being a crypto-president and making America the crypto capital of the planet. One specific promise he made during the recent 2024 Bitcoin Conference was that he would sack Gary Gensler, the current head of the Securities and Exchange Commission, and install a pro-crypto replacement.  

Cryptocurrency has a reputation for being volatile and potentially confusing, especially for first-time investors. This has seen the SEC and the crypto industry come to loggerheads in a dispute over the best way to progress. However, many elements of the cryptocurrency process have been simplified.

Using the best crypto wallet for iPhone or one that can be installed on Android phones gives quick, easy access to funds, and most of the processes of sending and receiving payments have been automated. For example, payments can be sent by scanning a QR code or clicking a link, negating the need to manually enter long and easily confused wallet addresses.

Despite advances in cryptocurrency technology and processes and the major differences between crypto and traditional currencies, the SEC insists that existing securities rules can be applied to cryptocurrency.

Under current chief, Gary Gensler, the securities commission has also argued that most transactions with cryptocurrency violate existing federal securities laws. The industry points out that Gensler has not given details of what laws are being breached and how. Even the approval of Bitcoin and Ether ETFs has not warmed the SEC chair to the crypto community.

His stance has made Gary Gensler unpopular within the crypto community, with many heads of exchanges and other groups within the sector claiming he is unfit for office.

Trump has picked up on the disdain and disapproval felt for Gensler as he openly promised the 2024 Bitcoin Conference that he would get rid of Gensler on day one. As popular as this move would be, however, there are many questions over whether the incoming President would be able to do this.

The organization was formed in 1934, in response to the stock market crash of 1929. It aimed to restore confidence in the financial market. The group is meant to be impartial because it makes publicly unpopular decisions, and impartiality allows it to do this without the fear of being swayed by politicians.

This also means that the President doesn’t, strictly speaking, have the power to oust the chair of the committee except “for cause” which means proving that there is good cause to dethrone Gensler. This might be possible as there are a lot of prominent people, from outside crypto as well as inside, that claim he is not capable of doing the job properly.

Senator Warren Davidson has called on Gensler to resign, pointing to his poor performance in legal cases against the likes of Ripple. But, even if Trump can get substantial backing and prove that Gensler isn’t fit for the post, the process still takes time. It can take well over a year or more before a decision is made. Gensler’s term as chair expires in June 2026, so it is quite likely that the process to have him removed would take longer than he has left in power, anyway.

It is very unlikely he would be able to sack the chair “on day one”. Another option is that Gensler might resign. He might simply decide he doesn’t want to work under the type of scrutiny he’s been receiving, especially if some of that scrutiny is coming from the President himself.

If this happened, President Trump would be able to nominate somebody to take over the position of chair. This would need to be confirmed by the Senate, which is likely given the Republicans control of the house. In the meantime, Trump can ask one of the remaining board members to sit as interim chair.

In any case, Trump will eventually have control of who acts as chair of the commission, and he will likely be looking for a crypto-positive individual. The press widely believes this person will be Dan Gallagher, who is currently at Robinhood Markets, previously served as an SEC commissioner and has been openly critical of Gensler.

Whoever won the election, the crypto market expected a softer approach to cryptocurrency, as was seen by Bitcoin prices in the weeks leading up to the vote. Bitcoin’s price has risen more than 30% since Trump’s election win, less than two weeks ago, showing the market is expecting positive cryptocurrency moves.