Gary Gensler said he’ll step down as SEC chair. Bitcoin is soaring

Crypto enthusiasts are ecstatic after U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler said he will step down from his post on January 20 once President-elect Donald Trump takes office.

The price of Bitcoin, which has been on a streak of record highs since the presidential election, topped $98,000 for the first time on Thursday.

“The staff and the Commission are deeply mission-driven, focused on protecting investors, facilitating capital formation, and ensuring that the markets work for investors and issuers alike,” Gensler said in a press release. “The staff comprises true public servants. It has been an honor of a lifetime to serve with them on behalf of everyday Americans and ensure that our capital markets remain the best in the world.”

Crypto players believe the Trump administration will welcome legislative and regulatory changes that benefit the digital coin, despite the former president having been anti-crypto during his first term in office. Trump, who reversed his stance and now has a venture to trade cryptocurrencies, pledged to make the U.S. “the crypto capital of the planet.”

Part of that bid, he said, was that he would “fire Gary Gensler.” Gensler, who was nominated by President Joe Biden, has been widely criticized by the crypto world due to the agency’s attempts to regulate the digital currency.

Under Gensler, the SEC cracked down on cryptocurrency companies including heavyweights like Binance and Coinbase, suing many for fraud and money laundering. Gensler’s regulatory approach prompted many in the crypto world to funnel money into this year’s federal elections, turning the sector into the cycle’s largest corporate campaign donor in the election cycle.

Gensler’s tenure came at an often-rocky time for the crypto industry. Most notably, Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange, convicted of stealing billions from customers and sentenced this past March to 25 years in prison.

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