Gary Gensler Says 10,000-15,000 Projects Won't Survive, Crypto Market Is 'Wrapped Up In Sentiment'

Outgoing SEC Chair Gary Gensler on Wednesday warned of the highly speculative nature of the cryptocurrency market, saying the vast majority of the 10,000-15,000 existing crypto projects “will not survive.” 

What Happened: In an interview with Bloomberg, Gensler said he has been around finance for over four decades, and everything in the markets trade on a mixture of fundamentals and sentiment at any given time.

“I’ve never seen a field that’s so much wrapped up in sentiment and not so much about fundamentals,” he said and added, “these 10,000 to 15,000 projects (which are in the crypto market), many of them will not survive,” comparing them to high-risk venture capital investments that are likely to fail.

Gensler's comments reflect his long-held view that the crypto market is rife with speculation, scams and non-compliance.

He noted that the SEC has brought approximately 100 enforcement actions against bad actors in the crypto field, building upon the 80 brought by his predecessor.

Gensler pointed to cases involving individuals such as FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, Binance founder Changpeng Zhao and fugitive Do Kwon as examples of how tens of billions of dollars were lost by investors.

Gensler went on to discuss the highly speculative nature of crypto assets, emphasizing that "less than 10 percent of the public invests in this field," and that "these are highly speculative, volatile investments and they’re not getting the full and fair disclosure that’s appropriate."

Also Read: XRP ETF ‘Very Soon,’ Likely Next After Bitcoin And Ethereum, Ripple President Says

Why It Matters: Gensler emphasized that his role at the SEC is to protect the investing public and ensure that the intermediaries are operating without fraud or manipulation.

While Gensler acknowledges that there is some value to the underlying technology of crypto, he has always been critical of the current market, due to its lack of compliance.

He said that he had previously approached this market as an academic, but when in the role as SEC chair, one must take an oath of office and that that entails a different perspective.

Gensler stated that his job was not to impede the public's decision to decide where they wish to invest their money.

However, he also stated that, "the intermediaries, the brokers, the stock exchanges, the advisors are giving that advice and doing what they’re doing without fraud, manipulation and so forth."

Gensler will resign on Jan. 20, 2025, coinciding with the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump.

Read Next:

• Peter Schiff Doesn’t ‘Hate Bitcoin’ But Warns ‘Millions’ Will Lose More Than They Can Afford In ‘Speculative Mania’

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