SEC Chair Gary Gensler is facing widespread scrutiny regarding his previous comments on Algorand after the ALGO token was accused of being a security.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has been criticized after labeling Algorand (ALGO) as an unregistered security, despite Gensler previously endorsing the cryptocurrency in a video from four years ago, which has now resurfaced on Twitter.
During the “Fintech Beyond Crisis” conference on April 25, 2019, Gensler expressed his admiration for Algorand while speaking to an audience at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
In the video, Gensler commended Algorand as a “great technology” and discussed the potential for integrating Uber or Lyft-like applications on its platform.
However, in the SEC’s April 17 lawsuit against the cryptocurrency trading platform Bittrex, ALGO was among six tokens identified as unregistered securities.
Crypto Twitter Questions SEC After ALGO Accusation
Cryptocurrency researcher Mason Versluis was among the first to highlight the video on April 17 with a tweet accusing Gensler of promoting ALGO. Other members of the crypto community have called out the SEC chair for what they perceive as contradictory actions.
The controversy has led to accusations of hypocrisy from members of the cryptocurrency community, who have pointed out the apparent inconsistency in the SEC’s actions towards Algorand and Bittrex.
Algorand was developed by a personal friend of former SEC director of corporate finance William Hinman, which has further fuelled speculation about the motives behind the SEC’s recent actions.
The video has led Adam Cochran, a partner at Cinneamhain Ventures, to question the validity of Gensler’s advice for crypto companies to register with the SEC. Cochran’s comments emphasize the apparent inconsistency between Gensler’s previous praise for Algorand’s technology and the recent declaration by the SEC that ALGO is an unregistered security.
He tweeted: “Now I can’t help but be astonished that Gary thinks ‘come in and register because we have clear rules’ can apply here? Because he is proposing that either this industry thinks it can ignore the rules or that it doesn’t understand the rules.”
