About That ‘Gary Gensler for Treasury Secretary’ Story

Gary Gensler is (let’s just say it) universally disliked in crypto for the SEC’s frequent aggressive “enforcement actions” and for his unwillingness to be clear about what is and what isn’t legally permissible when it comes to digital assets.

But is the story true? Let’s take a look at the evidence, and how this “story” may have come about.

It may be true that “multiple senior Senate staffers” believe Gensler could be Treasury Secretary in a Harris administration. Gensler is long believed to have coveted that job and he would certainly be well-qualified: he worked on Wall Street (Goldman Sachs), he’s led both of the country’s primary markets regulators (the SEC and Commodity Futures Trading Commission), and he was a professor at MIT. He’s a well-rounded, experienced economic public servant; why wouldn’t he be considered as a Treasury Secretary candidate? Putting aside that Harris needs to win the presidency, a Senate majority and persuade both Democratic and Republican Senators to support his nomination … it’s certainly possible Gensler could get the job next year, though, according to most experts, that is unlikely.

But the story is filled with red flags that any decent editor would immediately mark up with red ink. For example: “Those rumors corroborate what top Republicans have also told the Reporter on the record.” Rumors don’t corroborate anything. And there’s nothing close to a quote from someone close to the Harris camp; the “likely” in the headline all comes from those Senate staffers.