- Swirling rumours of Gary Gensler’s resignation have been confirmed by the SEC to be fake.
- Forensics indicate that the source of the rumour stems from an AI-generated text.
- The markets took a steep dive but recalibrated itself after an official disclosure by the SEC debunking the rumour
Gary Gensler’s time at the helm of affairs at the SEC will not be ending anytime soon following the squashing of AI-generated resignation rumours.
Crypto Twitter whipped itself into a frenzy after a news story made the rounds that SEC Chair Gary Gensler had submitted his resignation following an internal investigation. According to the report, Gensler was investigated for “alleged misconduct, and the decision to step down underscores the seriousness of the findings.”
Several Web 3 influencers on Twitter shared the story, with one post from Whale Chart reaching over 1.4 million views. Still reeling from the SEC designation of some virtual currencies as securities and repeated denials of a Bitcoin spot ETF, a large majority of the virtual assets industry welcomed the news of Gensler’s resignation with glee.
However, the SEC’s public relations team has denied the rumors of Gensler’s resignation, with FOX Business reporters Eleanor Terrett and Charles Gasparino poking holes in the story.
Digital analysis of the fake story revealed that a large chunk of the text was generated by artificial intelligence (AI). According to the AI-text detector ZeroGPT, the article in question was 96.8% generated, while other posts on the website indicated heavy AI usage.
In the hours following the rumors, virtual asset prices took a hit as Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) lost as much as 2% of their values. However, the start of the week saw a rebound in the markets as the largest virtual currency assets recouped some of their losses heading into the holidays.
At the moment, the global crypto market capitalization stands at $1.19 trillion, a 1.26% plunge over the last 24 hours. The biggest winners from the SEC’s clarification appeared to be transaction volumes, as 48-hour volume inched toward $40 billion.
Not the first fiasco with Gensler
This is not the first time rumors of Gensler’s resignation are circulating in the ecosystem. In April, a similar publication made the rounds claiming the SEC Chair was about to be sacked.
Gary Gensler has received scathing criticisms over the SEC’s handling of the FTX fiasco and increased enforcement action over the digital asset industry, underscored by its lawsuits against Ripple Labs, Coinbase, and Binance.
A bill titled “The SEC Stabilization Act” by U.S. lawmakers in early June sought to fire Gensler from his role as head of the SEC on grounds of tyranny.
“U.S. capital markets must be protected from a tyrannical Chairman, including the current one,” said U.S. Rep. Warren Davidson. “That is why I’m introducing legislation to fix the ongoing abuse of power and ensure protection that is in the best interest of the market for years to come.”
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