Leo Schwartz: "Many Miami Bitcoin 2023 participants agree with Gary Gensler's position"

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2 minutes.

Fortune reporter Leo Schwartz found out the opinion of the participants of the Miami Bitcoin 2023 conference regarding the policies of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and its chairman Gary Gensler.

Covering the conference in Miami, Leo Schwartz(Leo Schwartz) was surprised that despite the general techno-libertarian inclinations of the public, he heard from the participants words of support for Gary Gensler (Gary Gensler) and the SEC. Answering the reporter's questions, the conference participants said that they largely agree with the SEC chairman's statement that all cryptocurrencies, with the exception of BTC, can have the characteristics of securities.

“What deeply worries the SEC is thatwhether such unregistered securities undermine the legitimacy and reputation of US financial markets. We see Gensler trying more to protect the integrity of America and our financial markets,” said one respondent.

According to Schwartz, most of the bitcoin holders he interviewed are confident that all other cryptocurrencies are pure speculation, far from the storage of values ​​​​and cross-border settlement tools.

"In the traditional sense for the rest ofcrypto industry, bitcoin support for the SEC position is unthinkable blasphemy. This means that many bitcoin holders identify themselves as a special caste and an exception to the general rules. In their eyes, BTC is the only real cryptocurrency, and any other is at best a cheap facsimile of it, and at worst a scam,” Schwartz said.

However, at the conference, an alternativeposition. Trammell Venture Partners managing director Christopher Calicott said that public statements in favor of the SEC by bitcoin holders “inspire the state to fight the industry.”

“Regulatory body support to eliminatecompetitors is a bad idea. This means that you are not so sure about the success of your project. Also, bitcoin owners should not expect to be outlawed. It doesn't matter what kind of distributed ledger you have, what matters is whether you sell an investment contract or not. Eventually, the SEC will knock on them too,” Calicotte said.

Miami Bitcoin 2023 conference took place from 18 to 20May. As the organizers previously reported, the popularity of the event has fallen this year, and less than 50% of the average number of participants in previous years have applied to participate.