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https://www.wsj.com/articles/secs-gary-gensler-had-crypto-in-his-sights-for-years-now-hes-suingbinance-and-coinbase-dbeb79eb

SEC’s Gary Gensler Had Crypto in His Sights for Years. Now He’s Suing Binance and Coinbase.

Agency chair focuses enforcement power on exchanges after earlier failures to subdue industry

When Gary Gensler became Securities and Exchange Commission chair, he urged staff to go after the hubs investors use to buy and sell crypto. Justin T. Gellerson for The Wall Street Journal

By Dave Michaels

and Paul Kiernan

Updated June 8, 2023 12:03 am ET

WASHINGTON—Gary Gensler had seen enough.

In two years running the Securities and Exchange Commission, he said, he or his staff met dozens of times with cryptocurrency exchanges that were seeking special exemptions from the laws governing the rest of Wall Street. Those talks didn’t lead anywhere, and neither did Gensler’s efforts to cajole, prod and even threaten crypto into compliance.