There are growing rumors in Washington that Vice President Kamala Harris may nominate SEC Chair Gary Gensler as Treasury Secretary if she wins at the polls in November.
Those rumors corroborate what top Republicans have also told the Washington Reporter on the record it reported on Aug. 19.
Speaking to the outlet, Minnesota representative Tom Emmer previously warned that Harris may pick Gensler or, even worse, Senator Elizabeth Warren to serve as her Treasury Secretary.
Such a move “would be a disaster for the economy,” he said.
An Anti-Crypto Treasury Secretary
The anti-CBDC and pro-crypto Congressman said that Gensler has “been bringing lawsuits all over the place — and losing all over the place” before adding:
“That time’s past. Gary Gensler needs to move on. His career in government should be over.”
Should Harris triumph over Trump, senior Republican Senate staff expect “unified Republican opposition” to Gensler, but he’ll likely be able to count on broad Democratic support, the report added.
The political rumors don’t stop there. There are also some claiming that Gensler may step down as SEC chairman. This would allow the Biden administration to nominate a new chair prior to the November election.
One possible replacement is SEC commissioner Caroline Crenshaw, who is also pro-banking and anti-crypto.
In January, she voted against spot Bitcoin ETFs , claiming that underlying markets were “marred by fraud and manipulation” and arguing that it is “well-documented that many criminals use Bitcoin to evade US financial sanctions.”
End of Crypto in The US?
In a post on X on Aug. 20, Ethereum advocate Ryan Sean Adams and Bankless founder said :
“If true, this would basically END crypto in the U.S. and we might as well flee the country now.”
He added that since we have nothing from Kamala Harris telling us she wouldn’t nominate Gensler, “we can’t entirely rule it out.”
“There’s been ample opportunity to extend an olive branch to crypto… they’ve given nothing.”
The Democratic National Committee published its 2024 Party Platform on Sunday — a document detailing the Democrats’ future political priorities heading into the next election — and it didn’t mention crypto once.
Founder of crypto bank Custodia, Caitlin Long, said that multiple Democrats have contacted her to say the “Gensler as Treasury Secretary” rumor is false.
“One thinks the source of the rumor is Gensler himself — (thinks he planted it just to mess with all of us…that sounds about right, TBH)”, she added.
