The United States president-elect Joe Biden has appointed a former Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) chairman to lead the financial transition team. The former chairman is a crypto enthusiast as he has been following the sector’s developments for the past few years
Joe Biden has confirmed the appointment of Gary Gensler as the chairman of the presidential financial transition team. This comes after multiple reports a few days ago suggested that the Biden campaign is looking to the Wall Street veteran to lead the charge.
Gensler is a Washington and Wall Street veteran who has been following the developments in the cryptocurrency sector keenly. He will lead the agency review of top financial institutions in the country, including the Federal Reserve, banking and securities regulators.
Biden and Gensler are not strangers as the latter served as a key financial regulator when Barack Obama was president and Joe Biden served as the vice president. Gensler rolled out several financial markets initiatives, most notably the derivatives rules following the 2008 financial crisis. His experience spans decades as he served in the Treasury Department during the Clinton administration.
Crypto enthusiasts excited about the appointment
The appointment of Gensler was met with approvals within the cryptocurrency sector. He became popular in the crypto space after he argued before Congress about cryptocurrencies and blockchain on multiple occasions. In 2018, the former CFTC chairman told Congress that cryptocurrencies and Ponzi schemes don’t have anything in common. He believed that the United States shouldn’t rush to regulate the industry until they understand the basics of how cryptocurrencies work.
Last year, Gensler wrote a testimony stating that Facebook’s Libra coin meets all the requirements to be regarded as a security under the United States law. He also strongly believes that XRP is a security despite the intense battle between the cryptocurrency and regulators over the coin’s status over the past few years. Gensler has always been a strong believer in blockchain as he regards the technology to be a game-changer in the global economy.
The US presidential election continues to make headlines globally as the incumbent president Trump is yet to concede the election. President Trump has filed multiple lawsuits in several states seeking to have votes discounted as he alleges irregularities in the process. However, the president and his team are yet to provide enough evidence to support the claims.
Biden continued his preparation to lead the country, naming Gensler and hundreds of others as part of the Biden-Harris transition team yesterday. The selected individuals will evaluate the various agencies’ functions and ensure a smooth transition of power over the next two months.