Apparently it’s not a joke. Mark Cuban reiterated his interest in leading the U.S. Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Thursday, confirming to Decrypt that he really is open to chairing the financial regulator if Kamala Harris is elected president in November.
Cuban, an outspoken supporter of both the crypto industry and Harris’ presidential campaign, has long been critical of current SEC chair Gary Gensler’s aggressive series of enforcement actions against a litany of American crypto firms.
That line has often been a tough one to walk, though, given that Harris, as Vice President, is a key member of President Joe Biden’s crypto-hostile administration.
Since the earliest days of Harris’ upstart presidential campaign, Cuban has emerged as one of the few crypto industry advocates with close connections to the Vice President’s inner circle. He has apparently used that position to attempt to push the Democratic nominee away from her predecessor’s skeptical stance on digital assets, and towards a more friendly one.
In late July, less than two days after Harris launched her bid for president, Cuban told Decrypt that her camp reached out to him with “multiple questions” about crypto, a sign the billionaire entrepreneur took as encouraging.
And in the last few days, Harris has made her first-ever recorded comments on the digital assets industry, both positive. On Sunday, she told a room of high-profile donors in Manhattan that she “will encourage innovative technologies like AI and digital assets while protecting our consumers and investors,” according to a Bloomberg report.
On Wednesday, in a speech before The Economic Club of Pittsburgh, she pledged that America would “remain dominant in AI and quantum computing, blockchain and other emerging technologies” under her leadership.
Cuban attended the latter event, and after it, told a Fox News reporter that if he had any interest in joining a Harris Administration, it would be to replace Gary Gensler.
“Head of the SEC,” Cuban said. “That’s the job I would take.”
At the time, it wasn’t clear if Cuban was being facetious. While he has repeatedly lambasted Gensler for his treatment of the crypto industry, the day-to-day task of chairing the SEC is a granular one that involves regulating the stock market and all publicly traded companies.
While Gensler had several federal government stints under his belt before taking the job, though, past SEC chairs—such as former president Donald Trump’s appointee to the position, Jay Clayton—have come from the private sector with zero government experience.
I talked to the Harris team today who told me in no uncertain terms that they are against “regulation through litigation “
CYA Gensler.
You leaving is worth a point in GDP growth https://t.co/NbPd4RQSBF
— Mark Cuban (@mcuban) September 24, 2024
Cuban has an extensive track record as an entrepreneur and investor, and has been active in political fundraising for over a decade. He has never formally worked in government.
In 2008, the SEC filed a lawsuit against Cuban, accusing him of insider trading. After the case was dismissed and then brought back to life on appeal, a federal jury in Texas unanimously found him not liable in 2013.
Edited by Andrew Hayward
