Billionaire cryptocurrency advocate Mark Cuban has criticized the head of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for his crackdown on the industry, arguing that FTX and Three Arrows Capital (3AC) would still be in business if not for the US regulator.
SEC Chairman Under Fire for Cryptocurrency Campaign
Mark Cuban recently joined two Thursday podcasts to discuss industry-related topics, including the US election, cryptocurrency adoption, and the SEC’s regulatory stance. The billionaire strongly criticized the US regulator and its head, Gary Gensler, for their “regulation through enforcement” approach to the sector.
In an interview with Farouk Sarmad Al-Kubi repeat He expressed his long-standing dissatisfaction with the Commission, asserting that he was “a great admirer of clear regulation” rather than “regulation by litigation.”
The cryptocurrency advocate criticized the SEC’s lack of transparency and said the commission is trying to make the law based on lawsuit rulings rather than setting clear rules from the beginning, which has been a common criticism of the regulatory agency.
He revealed that he confronted Gensler last week in CNBC’s Green Room, explaining the reasons for his criticism. “I told him this: you’re screwing up the whole thing, you’re pushing industries out (…) and that’s completely wrong because it starts with cryptocurrencies but expands to other applications,” he recalls.
However, Cuban believes the SEC chairman “didn’t really get it.” The billionaire noted that Gensler “gets some of Elizabeth Warren,” explaining that the SEC chairman may be “trying to be a public servant who saves the world” by trying to crack down on the sector and “bad actors.” “
In the comprehensive podcast, Entrepreneur continued To criticize the US regulator, claiming that without Gensler, cryptocurrency companies such as FTX and 3AC would not have gone out of business. He said that if the US regulator had followed the appropriate approach, companies would have been able to operate responsibly and protect investors:
What he should do is say these are the bright line regulations. If FTX wants to lend out all their Ethereum, they should do what they did in Japan and get 95% collateral, and 95% of anything should be put in cold storage. If it had followed the same rules for cryptocurrencies as Japan, FTX would still be in business. Bankman-Fried may still be in prison, but FTX and 3AC will still be in business.
Harris campaign ‘knows Gensler messed it up’
The billionaire shared details of his conversations with US Vice President Kamala Harris and her election campaign. Cuban announced his public support for the Democratic candidate for the upcoming presidential elections in November.
In the interview with Farrokh, he said that despite his bias, he considered having Gensler as SEC chair was a bad look for the Biden-Harris administration because it automatically makes all decisions “corrupt.”
Cuban also claims that Harris and her campaign are aware of this, “they realize he messed it up, which is why you haven’t heard her say anything positive to support him.” He views Gensler’s lack of endorsement as a “huge” and positive signal for her stance on cryptocurrencies, which has been highly questionable.
Finally, he revealed that he was “trolling” when he offered to be the new chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission under Harris. Instead, the billionaire wanted to strike up a conversation and send a message to Gensler: “He’s doing everything wrong.”
Bitcoin (BTC) is trading at $61,600 in the weekly chart. Source: BTCUSDT on TradingView
Featured image from NBC News, chart from TradingView.com