Gary Gensler, former chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) who exited the agency when President Donald Trump took office, issued a blunt assessment of the cryptocurrency market during a CNBC interview last week. Known for his enforcement-focused regulatory style, Gensler separated bitcoin from the broader crypto ecosystem, questioning the long-term viability of most digital assets.

He argued that the crypto space is driven almost entirely by emotion rather than intrinsic value: “Every financial asset trades on fundamentals and sentiment, but this field is almost 100% sentiment and very little fundamentals.” While he acknowledged bitcoin’s global recognition, he expressed skepticism about the rest of the market. The former SEC chair opined:

Bitcoin may persist—7 billion people have interest in it.

“But there are 10,000 to 15,000 other tokens,” he continued, advising investors to assess their own risk exposure and examine the underlying fundamentals. “If it’s just sentiment, those don’t end up well, and most go down,” he cautioned.

Gensler likened bitcoin to gold, drawing a contrast with the multitude of lesser-known tokens, stating: “Similar to precious metals, humans have a fascination with 2–3 precious metals like gold. I don’t think we’ll have a fascination with 10,000–15,000 meme or sentiment tokens over the years.” His remarks appeared to caution investors against overconfidence in digital assets without underlying use cases or sound economic models.

The SEC is undergoing significant changes following the swearing-in of new Chair Paul Atkins, who pledged to focus on digital asset regulation. Atkins recently told Congress: “A top priority of my chairmanship will be to work with my fellow commissioners and Congress to provide a firm regulatory foundation for digital assets through a rational, coherent, and principled approach.”

Beyond digital assets, Gensler also critiqued U.S. trade policy, especially the administration’s combative approach to China. Having previously negotiated financial agreements with Beijing, he voiced concern over current strategies:

I think it’s not going to end well.

He warned that inconsistent policies signal weakness to China, which often chooses to wait out American volatility. Gensler further criticized attempts to simultaneously renegotiate trade deals with dozens of nations, calling it destabilizing and counterproductive. He said such moves could disrupt investor confidence and increase market instability. Additionally, he pointed to shrinking resources at the SEC, remarking: “Now it’s shrunk considerably—about 20% smaller. That’s hard.” He warned that weaker oversight reduces protections against market manipulation and insider trading, further undermining public trust in the financial system.

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