SEC chairman Gary Gensler faces heat over allegedly cozy ties to SBF

As Sam Bankman-Fried’s fraud trial heats up, so does the spotlight on Gary Gensler over his allegedly cozy ties with𝔉 the fallen crypto kingpin.

Last week, the chairman of the Secu꧑rities and Exchange Commission got a from US Rep. Patrick McHenry, chair of the House Financial Services Committee, who is demanding more information on the FT🍃X collapse. 

“You refuse to be transparent with Congress regarding your interactions with FTX and Sam-Ba🧸nkman Fried,” McHenry told Gensler at a Sept. 27 hearing. 

On the other side of the aisle, Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) in December said Gensler was “singularly responsible for the reg𓄧ulatory failures surrounding the collapse of FTX.”

In response, Gensler has remained tig🍌ht-lipped about his role in the crypto exchange’s downfall.

At the hearing with McHenry last week, the SEC chair “would only ꦇsay that his staff would continue to work with McHenry’s on the matter” before being repeatedly cut off by the congressman, according to DLNews.

One ma🅺jor✅ issue: Gensler has numerous ties to FTX.

Glenn Ellison – the father of Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison, SBF’s ex-girlfriend who has since turned informant to the feds — was the head of MIT’s economics department when Gensl♊er taught a course on blockchain there in 2018.

Elsewhere, several of Gensler’s old cronies worked for FTX and were even responsible for arranging mee🌳tings betw🌱een Gensler and SBF, sources said.

Ryne Miller — who a🌱 decade earlier had served as legal counsel to Gary Gensler for two years while Gensler headed the Commodity Futures Trading Commission — joined FTX as its general counsel in August 2021, according to its website.

After Mille🌠r joined FTX, Bankman-Fried nabbedಞ his first meeting with Gensler in October 2021, according to a screenshot of Gensler’s calendar. 

Miller arranged a conversa🔯tion between Gensler, Bankman-Fried, and FTX US President Brett Harrison to discuss next steps for the exchange — and how it could be legitimized, according to SEC disclosures.

It wasn’t just Gensler who was wooed by FTX. Then General Counsel of the SEC Dan Berkovitz went to dinner with Bankman-Fried and Miller in October 2021 at an upscale Indian restaurant in Wa🎶shington, Rasika West End, according t൲o the LA Times.  

Berkovitz left the SEC a month after FTX’s November 📖2022 implos꧙ion.

Mark Wetjen, who served as 🍌a commissioner of the CFTC at the same time Gensler helmed the agency, joined the dinner as well.

While it’s unclear what was discussed at the meal, Wetjen joined FTX as US Head of Policy and Regulatory Strategy s🌃hortly thereafter.

“The FTX case is one of the m♍ost significant financial frauds in decades,” Thomas Jones, president of the American Accountabili🉐ty Foundation, told On The Money.

“FTX hire🃏d one of Gary Gensler’s closest allies to serve as their ‘lobbyist’ in Washington and then got an unprecedented direct meeting with Gensler to plead their🅺 case.”

Wetjen, who has remained cl🧜ose to Gensler, also was responsi☂ble for setting up a March 2022 Zoom call just eight months before the exchange’s ultimate downfall, according to reports. 

𝕴On the call, Bankman-Fried reportedly discussed the possibility of launching a new crypto trading platform with Brad Katsuyama’s IEX.

SEC insiders say it is highly unusual for an SEC Chair to discuss a work-in🎉-progress.

SBF👍 reportedly bragged aboutꦺ having access to Gensler. 

The SEC declined to comment.

“FTX and their leadership was the ATM for the uniparty swamp in Washington,” Jones said. “The pay-to-play attitude ♕of SBF and his friends in official Washington, whether they be at the regulatory agencies or in Congress, serves as evidence that Washington has too much power and influence over the America🌊n economy and the lives of average Americans.”