Almost four years ago, Gary Gensler praised Algorand, now, SEC calls it unregistered security.
US Securities and Exchange Commission chair Gary Gensler once praised Algorand as a "great technology." However, it appears that now Gensler-led institution is thinking differently.
A four-year-old video of Gary Gensler praising Algorand, a smart contract platform, has resurfaced on Twitter.
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In April 2019, Gensler discussed Algorand during a "Fintech Beyond Crisis" conference at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). At that time, Gensler called Algorand a "great technology" while speculating whether a high-performance smart contract network could host an application similar to Uber or Lyft.
However, ALGO, Algorand's native token, was recently labeled an unregistered security in the SEC's lawsuit against the cryptocurrency trading platform Bittrex. The securities regulator also had problems with the Algorand Foundation's Initial Coin Offering (ICO) in June 2019.
Cryptocurrency researcher Mason Versluis was among the first to point out the video, accusing Gensler of "shilling" ALGO. Other users chimed in, highlighting the apparent inconsistency in the SEC chair's stance.
In his tweet, Mason Versluis implied that Gary Gensler must resign as SEC chair. It appears that Versluis is not the only person thinking about this. US Representative Warren Davidson plans to introduce legislation aimed at firing the SEC chair.
Before working at SEC, Gensler was a Professor of Global Economics and Management at MIT, where he worked with Algorand founder Silvio Micali.
Gary Gensler has been working as an SEC chair since April 17th, 2021. Recently, the man requested $2.4 billion to enhance the fight against illicit crypto activities.
