Laguna Labs CEO: Gensler and the SEC are ‘living in the past’

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Gary Gensler’s recent comments about Ethereum following its switch from Proof-of-Work to Proof-of-Stake were “disappointing” and akin to ‘living in the past’.

That’s how Stefan Rust, CEO of blockchain development house Laguna Labs has summed up Gensler’s reaction to the Ethereum merge.

To recap what the SEC Chair said, he basically hinted at the consensus change as a development that could see Ethereum considered a security. In the past, Gensler has signaled that only Bitcoin does not fall into this category.

Rust slams Gensler’s comments on Ethereum

Rust says the kind of reaction Gensler offered after the Merge relates to the “stultified situation” that the developed world now finds itself.

In comments shared with CoinJournal on Wednesday, Rust said that Gensler and others within the traditional finance sector need to embrace innovation, otherwise their ignorance and fear could turn out to be a threat to the US and other Western countries’ economies.

Notably, the Laguna Labs CEO sees Gensler’s reaction as typical of the resistance to technological innovation that continues to plague players within the traditional finance sector.

“Rather than welcome what is sure to be one of the greatest technological innovations of our age – an event that will see “the world’s computer“ cut its carbon emissions by 99% and become a truly viable solution for the future of the global Web3 economy – they tore it down,” Rust told CoinJournal.

The SEC Chair is either “ignoring” or perhaps does not understand the global community behind Ethereum as well as “the interplay of staking and node operation,” Rust said.

He suggests that if Gensler and others of similar persuasion knew or understood, then they would not be focusing on staking profits as the basis to consider Ether a security.

“It speaks much to the threat that is clearly perceived by these people from blockchain and cryptocurrency. Or perhaps more than this, it speaks to the inability of these figures to understand the significance of this technology,” he added.

In Rust’s opinion, the pace of innovation is forcing some regulators, who still hold onto traditional finance concepts, to seek the application of “old terms and rules on new technology.” He opines that this kind of approach won’t work and will only come to harm the regulatory regimes and the respective economies pushing them.