There is “absolutely no doubt” that Gary Gensler, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chairman installed earlier this year, is seeking to regulate crypto, and that he “wants to be the sheriff of cryptoville,” according to CEO of Galaxy Digital Mike Novogratz.
Speaking in a fireside chat on the last day of crypto research firm Messari’s Mainnet 2021 event in New York City on Wednesday, Novogratz shared his view on the recent regulatory crackdown on the crypto industry in the US in particular.
He opined that any suggestion that Gary Gensler does not know what he is doing is simply wrong.
“Gary [Gensler] is smart, there is absolutely no doubt about it,” Novogratz said, before he went on to state that this year “is going to be really challenging” for the industry in terms of regulations.
There is “no doubt” that Gensler wants to regulate the crypto space, the former investment banker-turned crypto entrepreneur said.
Novogratz further explained that the way the SEC chair most likely plans to go about regulating the space is to “try really hard” to get the current Democratically-controlled Congress to pass legislation “that gives him the right to regulate crypto.”
“I think it’s going to be a really volatile six to twelve months in the regulatory sphere,” Novogratz said, before adding that he believes the crypto community “did a terrible job” at educating lawmakers in Washington, D.C. about what the crypto industry really is and what’s important for it.
Moreover, Novogratz also said that as a result of increasing regulations, his company, Galaxy Digital, is planning to spend more resources on lobbying US legislators going forward.
“We’re committed now to spend more time in [Washington] D.C. I’m trying to hire a super guy to help us there, to educate senators, congressmen, and even to work with the people at the different regulatory agencies,” the former investment banker said.
Ending on an optimistic note, Novogratz also argued that, although regulators are getting tougher, the situation is not all bad, and the industry even has supporters on the inside of some of the regulatory agencies.
“It’s not like they’re starting at zero… A lot of the young people at the agencies are big owners of crypto,” the CEO concluded.
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