Ratioing Gensler on Twitter is sadly crypto’s most powerful protest

If you squint and turn your head a bit, crypto looks something like a protest movement.

• Sick of banks exploiting your deposits for their own gain? Buy bitcoin.
• Tired of overt financial surveillance? Buy monero.
• Rather gamble on Binance than casino blackjack? Buy shiba inu.

Outside of passive-aggressive speculation crypto fans have few ways of effective protest, especially against this cycle’s No. 1 villain, SEC chair Gary Gensler.

Bagholder marches aren’t really a thing (yet). So, a Manhattan rally for those who bought the top on the SEC’s “crypto securities” is out of the question.

Publicity stunts are also absent. Climate protestors throw soup on Van Goghs and glue themselves to The Scream, but you won’t catch a MATIC maxi chaining his ankles to the Wall Street Bulls’ balls lest the SEC back off.

What about a protest vote? Favorable securities laws are the single issue that determines your vote in the next election. All sorts of moral hazards and miseries ensue, by way of grubby political pandering.

Throw money at PACs and Super PACs working in mysterious ways to install crypto-friendly politicians, sure, but that can be expensive — and you won’t even get a volatile cryptocurrency in return. 

Ratioing Gensler on Twitter is really all there is. It started out as a light ribbing. A few hundred more comments to likes — mostly in response to Robinhood’s payment-for-order-flow controversy amid GameStop mania. 

XRP army rumblings, even, about the Ripple case and the much-anticipated-and-now-released Hinman documents.

In between, there were plenty of posts with more healthy ratios. His first post directly addressing crypto, in September 2021, was warmly received, in fact, scoring a 1:2 ratio (comments to likes).

All that had worn off about a year later, as the SEC ramped up its prosecution of major US players, namely Coinbase. It’s only getting worse. 

These days, Gensler can’t post ELI5s about compound interest without being mercilessly trolled, with one such tweet facing a 5:1 ratio last week. 

Replies include: “Everyone would rather like to know ‘What is a security?” and “Can you please do a post on what a bad faith actor is?” as well as “I have a ‘compounding interest’ in the #FireGaryGensler movement!”

A recent post advising college students on summer holidays to consider the best ways to save money was hammered at more than 8:1. “Best advice for college grads: don’t take advice from Gary.” “Is this financial advice from Gary Gensler himself? SEC should sue him for this.” “Who bullied you at school?”

Certainly there have been instances in history where the SEC chair has been forced to resign for mild-to-medium corruption. Even fraud. Legitimate accusations against Gensler are however non-existent, more meme than reality.

(Blockworks opinion editor Molly Jane Zuckerman previously outlawed any more opinion pieces about Gensler. Luckily, she’s not here today.)

Read more: Gary Gensler is utterly unimportant

Fantastical headlines still fuel frothy expectations through less discerning audiences that Gensler may well be moved on from his post. 

A rumor that Gensler was ready to resign, fanned by an AI-generated blog last week, quickly triggered an SEC denial through a Fox News reporter.

Industry lobby groups are lending legitimacy to the rabble-rousers, after two House Republicans cleared a warpath. The Blockchain Association (BA) in a fiery statement last week demanded Gensler recuse himself from all matters digital asset, on account of his opinion that bitcoin is the only kosher crypto clouds his judgment.

Will Gensler, a Biden appointee, resign, embarrassed by non-stop boos of the digital swamp we call Crypto Twitter? 

Probably not. Even if Donald Trump wins. The former President hates crypto (and loves the US dollar), why would he install a sympathizer? 

Still, with no other recourse, ratioing Gensler on Twitter is all crypto has right now.

Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

• Blockworks Daily: The newsletter that helps thousands of investors understand crypto and the markets, by Byron Gilliam.
• Empire: Start your morning with the top news and analysis to inform your day in crypto.
• Forward Guidance: Reporting and analysis on the growing intersection of crypto and macroeconomics, policy and finance.
• 0xResearch: Alpha directly in your inbox. Market highlights, data, degen trade ideas, governance updates, token performance and more.
• Lightspeed: Built for Solana investors, developers and community members. The latest from one of crypto’s hottest networks.
• The Drop: For crypto collectors and traders, covering apps, games, memes and more.
• Supply Shock: Tracking Bitcoin’s rise from internet plaything worth less than a penny to global phenomenon disrupting money as we know it.