The SEC's top crypto cop resigns a month before the election. Is Gensler next? – DL News

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced Wednesday that Enforcement Director Gurbir S. Grewal will leave the agency on Oct. 11.

Grewal, a 21-year agency veteran, has led over 100 enforcement actions against crypto companies since 2021. He is widely considered one of the key architects of the SEC's anti-crypto “regulation through enforcement” strategy.

“It’s not normal for an SEC enforcement director to disappear like this — with nine days’ notice and no replacement lined up,” Jake Chervinsky, chief legal officer at Variant, a crypto venture capital firm, said on X.

Sanjay Wadhwa, deputy director of the Enforcement Division, will serve as acting director. It's not clear who the SEC wants to promote to the position permanently.

The news comes as Washington gears up for cryptocurrencies ahead of the US elections in November.

Chervinsky couldn't resist calling out the SEC for its widely criticized approach to cryptocurrencies in recent years.

“Perhaps the inevitable end to a campaign of unlawful harassment and misrepresentation that has resulted in many embarrassing defeats in court,” he said.

In 2023, a US appeals court ruled that the SEC erred when it denied Grayscale, the crypto fund issuer, permission to launch a spot Bitcoin ETF.

Then in August, the SEC was largely unsuccessful in its longstanding claim that crypto payments company Ripple Labs' sales of its XRP token violated securities laws.

Is Gensler next?

Given Grewal's departure and increasing political pressure, crypto experts are speculating whether SEC Chairman Gary Gensler could also leave the agency.

Crypto investor Adam Cochran said on

“The signs are clear that Gensler will be out of one of the two governments in the next term,” he said.

Former President Donald Trump has said he would fire Gensler immediately if he returned to the White House.

Vice President Kamala Harris has not commented on Gensler's tenure. President Joe Biden appointed Gensler as SEC chairman in 2021.

Other Democratic supporters were not so reserved about the need for Gensler to leave.

“Your departure is worth a point for GDP growth,” Mark Cuban, the billionaire investor and Harris supporter, posted on X.

In a recent interview on Fox News, Cuban said he would be willing to replace Gensler and lead the SEC if Harris wins in November.

Grewal isn't the only SEC chief to recently leave the agency.

In August, David Hirsch, the head of the SEC's cyber and crypto enforcement unit, left the company and joined the law firm McGuireWoods in Washington, DC.

Tim Craig is DL News' DeFi correspondent based in Edinburgh. Contact us with tips at [email protected].