“As I teach at MIT on these subjects, these innovations have been a catalyst for change,” Gensler began, adding:

Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have brought new thinking to payments and financial inclusion but they’ve also raised new issues of investor protection that we still need to attend to.

“So I think, if confirmed at the SEC, I’d work with fellow commissioners to promote new innovation but also, at the core, ensure investor protection,” he continued.

Gensler clarified: “To the extent that somebody is offering an investment contract or security that’s under the SEC’s remit, and they have exchanges that operate there, then we have to make sure there’s investor protection.”