Palantir Technologies Inc. PLTR co-founder Joe Lonsdale cheered President-elect Donald Trump's pick to lead the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Paul Atkins, while calling out Gary Gensler's attitude towards the cryptocurrency industry.
What Happened: Lonsdale welcomed Atkin as Trump's SEC pick in a recent episode of the All-In Podcast, calling him a "smart guy."
"I love Paul. I think he's a fair guy… he's a really smart guy, cares about rules, cares about helping innovators," he said.
Lonsdale had no love lost for Gensler, though. "The thing that really pissed [me] off with Gary… I think you've probably seen like… I think both Coinbase with Brian and the Winklevoss twins [who] put something out… They won't even hire anyone who worked with Gary."
Explaining the anger of Coinbase Global Inc. COIN co-founder and CEO Brian Armstrong and the Winklevoss twins – Cameron and Tyler – towards Gensler, Lonsdale said, "The reason they're that angry at them is they were purposely not defining the rules in certain cases and then going after people after not having defined it in order to play a gotcha game."
"It was very dishonorable, and Paul sees all that and he's not going to allow that," Lonsdale added.
See Also: Dormant Bitcoin Whale Awakens After 11 Years, Moves $257M Worth Of BTC
Why It Matters: The crypto industry threw its weight behind the Trump campaign, and his win is being termed as a turnaround of fortunes.
For instance, Bernstein said in a recent report that the regulatory headwinds have now transformed into tailwinds for the crypto industry.
"We expect a new regime of crypto rule-making," the report said.
Armstrong expressed optimism after Trump's victory. "Tonight, the crypto voter has spoken decisively across party lines," he said, adding that he looks forward to working with the new administration to “clear rules of the road” for digital assets.
Trump is also considering establishing a national Bitcoin BTC/USD reserve, which supporters of the plan think will help the U.S. pare down its national debt.
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