Gary Gensler is a master of playing the media. Last October, for instance, the Securities and Exchange Commission chair released a video early one Monday morning announcing the agency had fined Kim Kardashian for her role in promoting an obscure crypto token. Even though the incident dated from June 2021 and was widely viewed as insignificant, the mix of celebrity scandal and the timing of the video let Gensler and the SEC bask in wall-to-wall news coverage.
The crypto industry has long chafed at such antics, arguing Gensler instead should focus on creating a regulatory framework for digital assets. But lately, the industry has become doubly frustrated as Gensler has deployed his media savvy to deflect attention away from crypto-related legislative proposals in Congress—and onto his own agency.
