Move over, this Coinhead writer’s surname. Because SEC chair Gary Gensler is the real “bad man”, according to John E. Deaton – a digital-assets-digging lawyer popular within certain crypto circles.

“No one knows what it’s like…  to be the bad man”, eh Gazza? Suppose you’re used to it, and maybe even enjoy it as the general in charge of Elizabeth Warren’s Anti-Crypto Army. Probably.

Whatever you think of crypto right now or just in general, given the sh*tcoin storm swirling in America conjured by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, the cryptoverse, via Deaton, has probably provided the Gensler-sniping potshot tweet of the day.

(And the follow-up video reply from one “Clem Fadiddlehopper” is reasonably amusing, too.)

Here’s what Deaton, who is a vocal supporter of Ripple/XRP in its legal battle with the SEC (and who is clearly a basketball fan), wrote in full:

“I’ve watched and fought bullies my entire life. Gensler is the quintessential bully. He’s the boy who didn’t get picked to play the first full court basketball game so he took his and left.

“I’ve talked to people who’ve been in the room with him and he insists on showing everyone he’s the smartest guy in the room – the same child prodigy that became the youngest partner in Goldman Sachs’ history.

“He’s disliked by everyone. He was cutting a deal with the biggest fraudster in Crypto @SBF_FTX and ready to give a regulatory advantage to @FTX_Official – an offshore exchange – while screwing @coinbase – an American exchange. @GaryGensler is a bad man. Full Stop.”

Further to that… and not to take a US political side on the issue of crypto (although this Democratic admin clearly largely has it in for the industry), here’s Deaton again, agreeing with Republican Majority Whip of the US House of Reps.

That is, agreeing there might be some substance behind speculation Gensler last year met with now-disgraced, former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (aka SBF) in order to potentially cut some sort of industry-exchange-market-cornering deal with the FTX exchange in the US.

SBF was, after all, the second biggest single fund-donor to the Biden presidential campaign, personally gifting US$5.2 million to the Sleepy Joe cause.

And that’s a narrative Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of Ripple, seems to believe in, too…

Meanwhile, this is an interesting tweet from Digital Asset Investor, that pours further fuel on the idea of a hidden agenda behind the SEC so vehemently going after FTX’s US crypto-exchange rivals, in particular Binance.

The tweet references Binance CEO CZ‘s role in bringing to attention the idea that FTX was dealing in shady financial operations (SBF was indicted last year on fraud and money-laundering/funds co-mingling charges, among other things).

And it points to a further tweet, from German-Finnish Internet entrepreneur and political activist Kim Dotcom, which reads:

“I told @cz_binance he’s finished after setting FTX on fire. Joe Biden loves to go to war for his biggest donors.”

Meanwhile, it’s a broadening idea among the crypto community at large that Gensler is the asset class’s public enema no.1. Until, that is, Senator Elizabeth Warren pipes up again…

 

Around the blocks

Some more Gensler/SEC-related musings that stuck with us on our afternoon moves through the Crypto Twitterverse.

https://twitter.com/GRDecter/status/1666419437304524800

 

Top 10 overview

With the overall crypto market cap at US$1.15 trillion, down about 2% since this time yesterday, here’s the current state of play among top 10 tokens – according to CoinGecko.

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