During his recent talk with CNBC's Squawk Box show, Gary Gensler has stated that he views Bitcoin and hundreds of other digital currencies traded by the community as a speculative asset class.
If people want to trade them, he continued, that is fine. However, he insists that Bitcoin, and cryptocurrencies in general, are often linked to fraud, scams and money laundering.
In this regard, he insists that crypto trading platforms (i.e., crypto exchanges) should be put under a regulatory regime to protect traders as if they were trading on the NYSE.
He believes that lack of regulation here is not good for investors, and it is not good for the technology that crypto is based on either.
"#Bitcoin and the hundreds of other coins that investors are trading is a speculative asset class," says @GaryGensler. "The trading platforms they are on are not currently under a regulatory regime that protects them like they are trading on the NYSE." pic.twitter.com/D5oieGeqWl
— Squawk Box (@SquawkCNBC) August 4, 2021
Alex Dovbnya
Godfrey Benjamin