Billionaire investor Mark Cuban has come down heavily on Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Gary Gensler. The latter had written an op-ed piece that presents the argument that crypto simply uses a different technology than capital markets but it doesn’t need to be treated differently by regulators. Cuban was responding to the stance taken in the op-ed.
Cuban lashed out against the chairman for his unclear regulatory stance, saying that the SEC is making it nearly impossible for the businesses and retail crypto investors to gain any clear direction.
How did it begin?
On 23 August 2022, Gensler shared his op-ed on his Twitter handle. The opinions he expressed in the Wall Street article were triggered by the fact that BlockFi, a leading crypto-specific financial platform, settled SEC and other federal and state investigations by agreeing to pay out $100 million.
Cuban immediately responded with a hard-hitting tweet, highlighting SEC’s lack of accessibility. He added that there is little space for crypto firms and investors to communicate with the Commission.
There’s no reason to treat the crypto market differently from the rest of the capital markets just because it uses a different technology…
Read my recent Op-Ed:
— Gary Gensler (@GaryGensler) August 22, 2022
Cuban also urged Gensler (and the SEC) to bring out “bright line guidelines” for crypto.
The Twitter banter continues
Subsequently, Gensler tweeted about how the SEC urges crypto platforms to comply with securities laws, as doing so will be beneficial for investors and the crypto market as a whole, and to directly talk to SEC staff if there are any concerns. Cuban, in turn, responded on 24 August with another tweet, disputing Gensler’s claim and stating that the SEC is hardly accessible to businesspeople and investors.
This is such Bullshit. You didn't start the BS, pls don't continue it. If you were working on behalf of investors you make it easy for questions by investors and businesspeople to be asked and answered. You make it near impossible. Those can't afford lawyers can only guess. https://t.co/CV7WC5ZmDx
— Mark Cuban (@mcuban) August 23, 2021
Mark Cuban, the Dallas Mavericks owner, has always been vocal about this support for crypto. And this isn’t the first time he has been seen criticizing the SEC’s stance on crypto. Earlier, on 23 July 2022, he was seen warning his Twitter audience about the not-so-accommodative crypto regulations from SEC.
