Mark Cuban Blasts SEC Chair Gensler, Says His Exit Could Boost GDP by 1%
Mark Cuban Claims Gensler’s Exit Would Raise GDP by 1%, Criticizes SEC Chair. Credit: (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Key Takeaways
- Mark Cuban calls out Gensler’s whataboutry during the FSC meeting.
- Gensler was put on the defensive in the FSC meeting, where Republican and Democrat lawmakers blasted the SEC chief for his reckless approach.
- Cuban was irked by Gensler’s response and said his exit would ensure a 1% economic boom.
American businessman and big-time crypto advocate Mark Cuban believes the exit of Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chief Gary Gensler could boost the country’s GDP by 1%.
Cuban’s comments came in response to the Financial Service Committee (FSC) meeting held on Sept. 24. At the meeting, top policymakers put Gensler on the defensive and questioned the agency’s reckless behavior under his leadership.
In an X post, Cuban called Gensler a “blight on technology” for misusing the Howey test in determining digital assets’ security status. Gensler appeared before the FSC to face the grueling questioning from Congressmen, and his answers didn’t impress many.
Gary Gensler Faces Heat From Congress
Gary Gensler has become one of the most unpopular SEC chiefs in the agency’s history. Gensler’s failure could be understood from his having united the Republicans and Democratic lawmakers. Who collectively believe Gensler misused his power as the SEC chief.
Some of the most notable interactions from the FSC meeting came from Ritchie Torres, a Democrat representative from New York’s 15th District. Torres questioned Gensler on the SEC’s recent enforcement action against non-fungible token (NFT) platforms.
Torres asked Gensler whether the Yankee ticket qualifies as a security, to which Gensler replied that it was not. The Democrat lawmaker then called out Gensler for charging NFT platforms for the sale of securities.
Torres noted that there is no legal difference between a Yankee ticket offering access to a Yankee game and an NFT offering access to an animated web series. He added that Gensler misclassifies collectables, art, and tickets as securities.
Cuban then responded to Torres’s interaction with Gensler and claimed that he had talked to the Harris team, which told him they were against “regulation through litigation.”
Cuban’s GDP growth comment was related to crypto regulation; once regulated, crypto could add points to the country’s GDP.
Besides Torres, Republican pro-crypto congressman Tom Emmer called Gensler one of the most “historically destructive, or lawless,” SEC chairman. Emmer grilled Gensler over the SEC’s unfair practices under his tenure and his inability to follow the rules.
FSC Chair Calls out Gensler’s Reckless Approach
FSC chairman Patrick McHenry also grilled Gensler on the agency’s record of regulatory uncertainty. The chairman questioned the SEC’s use of the Howey test and how it determines whether crypto tokens and digital assets are tokenized securities.
Gensler again didn’t answer the question directly. Instead, he reiterated the Supreme Court ruling. However, the chairman called out Gensler’s whataboutery and said he was not answering the questions.
Congressman McHenry also pointed out recent amendments made by the SEC on their use of “crypto token security” terms. While Gensler’s answers didn’t impress the chairman, Commissioner Hester Pierce set the record straight:
“We’re trying to be ambiguous because the legal precision carries real implications. We have fallen on our duty as a regulator and should have declared that not all digital assets are securities way earlier.”
On the other hand, Cuban blasted the SEC chief for using the age-old Howey test and said that if “Howey is the law of the land, there never would be a reason for Reves vs Ernst &Young to exist.”
The SEC chief is often accused of keeping American society on the back foot regarding nascent industries like crypto.
Instead of offering clear regulations, as demanded by crypto stakeholders for years, the SEC has filed lawsuits against multiple crypto companies for violating securities laws—the same law that the SEC chief and commissioner admitted the agency is not clear about.
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