I just noticed a quite interesting development - Gary Gensler, former SEC Chairman, has officially returned to MIT as a professor to teach about AI in finance and fintech. It seems he wants to focus on research rather than leading a regulatory agency anymore.

In fact, Gary Gensler had been teaching at MIT from 2018 until the Biden administration appointed him as SEC Chair in 2021. And now, after leaving the SEC last January, he has returned as a professor to co-direct the MIT FinTech AI @CSAIL initiative.

What’s interesting is that Gensler previously taught a course called "Blockchain and Money" at MIT, where he made quite supportive comments about cryptocurrencies. He told students that most cryptocurrencies are not securities under the Howey test. He even praised Algorand as an excellent technology because of its ability to execute complex smart contracts.

But when Gary Gensler led the SEC, his approach was completely different. Under his leadership, the SEC labeled most cryptocurrencies as unregistered securities, including Algorand’s ALGO, and took a series of actions against the crypto industry, including lawsuits against major exchanges.

The crypto community viewed Gensler’s departure as a positive signal — hoping that the regulatory climate in the US would improve and that a clear legal framework for digital assets would be established. That’s why, before the SEC leadership changed, many companies filed a series of crypto ETF applications to get ahead.

Now that Gary Gensler has returned to MIT, he probably will have the opportunity to continue researching and teaching the technology he once was passionate about, instead of being in a regulatory role. An interesting shift for the crypto industry.