There's an interesting detail I've just noticed. Gary Gensler, the former SEC chairman, has returned to MIT as a professor to teach about AI in finance and fintech. But what draws attention is the contradiction between his past and present.

Recall that Gary Gensler taught at MIT from 2018 to 2021, and during his lectures, he made quite supportive statements about crypto. He said that three-quarters of the crypto market are not securities, and even praised Algorand as an excellent technology. That was the Gary Gensler of his university days.

But then, after being appointed by the Biden administration as SEC chair, Gary Gensler completely changed. He began declaring that most cryptocurrencies are unregistered securities, and launched a series of enforcement actions against the industry. In fact, under Gensler’s leadership, the SEC even labeled ALGO as an unregistered security in lawsuits, including against major exchanges.

The crypto community celebrated his departure on January 20 as a sign that the regulatory climate would improve. And now, Gary Gensler is back at MIT, co-leading the FinTech AI initiative, continuing his teaching and research work.

This can be considered one of the most contradictory stories in the history of U.S. financial regulation. From an industry-supporting professor to a regulator opposing the industry, and now returning to academia. Truly a lesson on how power can change a person’s perspective.