Inside Gary Gensler’s SEC: A Conversation with Former Crypto Policy Advisor Corey Frayer
What was really happening inside the SEC during the Gensler years?
Today, we sat down with Corey Frayer, former senior crypto policy advisor to SEC Chair Gary Gensler and now Director of Investor Protection at the Consumer Federation of America.
We dig into how the agency thought about securities law, DeFi, Uniswap, stablecoins, SAB 121, and why platforms like Coinbase and Kraken ended up in the crosshairs.
Corey defends the Gensler playbook while responding to the industry’s harshest criticisms, from “regulation by enforcement” to claims of a political war on crypto.
Corey Frayer:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/corey-frayer-990a6b2
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🎬 DEBRIEF | RYAN & DAVID UNPACKING THE EPISODE
https://www.bankless.com/podcast/debrief-inside-gary-genslers-sec
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TIMESTAMPS
0:00 Intro
4:58 Crypto Industry Misconceptions
7:59 Corey’s Role & Background
14:20 How it All Started
24:16 No Path to Register?
31:26 Technology vs Economic Activity
38:22 Protecting Investors
41:07 DeFi Regulation
44:53 Uniswap’s Wells Notice
57:00 Fake DeFi vs True DeFi
1:03:41 Google Analogy
1:08:35 The Howey Test
1:16:53 SEC: Good or Evil?
1:26:52 GENIUS Bill
1:29:10 SAB 121
1:33:01 Crypto & SEC Political Impact
1:36:02 Paul Atkin’s SEC
1:38:15 What Would Corey Change?
1:41:23 Gary’s Text Messages
1:43:10 Is ETH a Security?
1:44:39 Gary Gensler’s Radio Silence
1:47:37 Gary’s Twitter April Fools PFP
1:50:44 Closing & Disclaimers
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Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here:
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At our Bankless Summit in Buenos Aires, four standout talks captured the frontier of crypto’s next chapter. Lincoln Murr lays out why x402 is emerging as the missing payment layer for the agentic internet. Shay Ketsdever explains how bots already run modern markets, and how programmable auctions and privacy can turn the bot economy into something that benefits people instead of exploits them. Michael Dong shows how real-time ZK proving unlocks a hundred-fold expansion of Ethereum’s computational power. And Luca Prosperi reframes money as a network, warning that today’s stablecoin architecture is a single point of failure and arguing for a more resilient, distributed monetary system.
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📣BANKLESS SUMMIT 2025 | SPONSORED BY M0
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🦄UNISWAP LABS | SWAP NOW
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💤EIGHT SLEEP | IMPROVE YOUR SLEEP
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TIMESTAMPS & RESOURCES
0:00 Intro
4:26 x402 & The Agentic Internet | Lincoln Murr
22:58 The Bot Economy: When AI & MEV Collide | Shea Ketsdever
47:16 1000x the L1: The Path To Infinite Compute | Michael Dong
1:09:25 A Network Theory of Money | Luca Prosperi
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Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here:
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Bitcoin hit a rare signal this week, dropping to its cheapest level relative to gold in nearly 15 years. Is that a buy signal or something deeper in the macro picture? Ryan and David break down what the BTC–gold anomaly really means, how liquidity, rates, and Trump’s surprise Fed Chair pick factor in, and whether the market is entering a shallow cycle instead of a true winter.
We also cover Ethereum’s Fusaka upgrade, Vitalik’s push to bring builders back to L1, Polymarket’s mainstream breakout and CNN–Kalshi deal, and Aztec’s 16K ETH privacy auction. Plus, the SEC’s coming innovation exemption and the growing alliance between Larry Fink and Brian Armstrong.
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BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS:
🔵COINBASE | ETH & BTC BACKED LOANS
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🪙FRAXNET | MINT, REDEEM, EARN
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🦄UNISWAP | SWAP ON UNICHAIN
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🛞MANTLE | GLOBAL HACKATHON 2025
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💤EIGHT SLEEP | IMPROVE YOUR SLEEP
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TIMESTAMPS & RESOURCES
0:00 Intro
4:09 Spotify Wrapped
https://x.com/AviiWeb3/status/1996326825736487062
https://x.com/RyanSAdams/status/1996331131164373441
7:17 Markets
https://x.com/stacy_muur/status/1995761132527911338
https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2025/11/29/why-gold-is-winning-over-bitcoin-in-2025-liquidity-trade-and-trust
https://x.com/simonkim_nft/status/1993744596908802121
https://x.com/RyanSAdams/status/1996543833753174365
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-says-new-federal-reserve-chair-be-announced-early-next-year-2025-12-02/
https://polymarket.com/event/who-will-trump-nominate-as-fed-chair
https://thedefireport.io/research/macro-risks-are-mispriced#rate-cuts
https://www.strategy.com/press/strategy-announces-establishment-of-1-44-billion-usd-reserve-and-updates-fy-2025-guidance_12-1-2025
https://www.tradingview.com/chart/52u4tG3f/
https://x.com/BlackRock/status/1995537254022869438
https://x.com/WatcherGuru/status/1996264980241617007
https://x.com/brian_armstrong/status/1996275431625159096
https://www.coindesk.com/business/2025/12/02/bank-of-america-greenlights-wealth-advisors-to-recommend-up-to-4-bitcoin-allocation
https://x.com/WatcherGuru/status/1996270024663957881
30:20 Polymarket Live in the U.S. on 60 mins & Kalshi CNN
https://x.com/Polymarket/status/1996231420117688701
https://apps.apple.com/us/iphone/charts/6004
https://polymarket.com/event/will-polymarket-us-go-live-in-2025
https://app.artemisanalytics.com/asset/polymarket
https://www.forbes.com/profile/shayne-coplan
https://youtu.be/ZA5bY4K9XPs
https://x.com/60Minutes/status/1995293602612691238
https://x.com/WhaleInsider/status/1995886355713589307
https://x.com/WALLACHLEGAL/status/1994039650877628546
https://x.com/Kalshi/status/1996233186251075862
40:27 Ethereum Fusaka is live!
https://x.com/sassal0x/status/1996336227474423991
https://x.com/VitalikButerin/status/1996342458234605895
https://x.com/sassal0x/status/1996442356464361817
https://etherscan.io/gastracker
https://x.com/VitalikButerin/status/1995209899182375024
https://ultrasound.money
https://x.com/haydenzadams/status/1995349830265159782
https://x.com/nero_eth/status/1995480367050920265
https://x.com/nero_eth/status/1995487640309944639
50:05 Tether Fud
https://x.com/CryptoHayes/status/1994915256150495652
https://x.com/JosephA140/status/1994943733054542124
https://x.com/MonetSupply/status/1995187007803285936
53:21 The AZTEC token sale just crossed 15.9k ETH committed
https://x.com/aztecnetwork/status/1996054062450786392
https://x.com/haydenzadams/status/1996088299354497325
https://x.com/BillHughesDC/status/1995851990082224151
55:28 SEC announced Innovation Exemption
https://x.com/BitcoinMagazine/status/1995839722854514838
https://x.com/DeItaone/status/1995849795219378590
56:22 Uniswap & Revolut
https://x.com/Uniswap/status/1995873897334669428
56:45 Bullish UK Crypto?
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2025/29/pdfs/ukpga_20250029_en.pdf
https://www.theblock.co/post/381181/uk-new-law-crypto-property
55:25 Meme of the Week
https://x.com/jonwu_/status/1995483574238347289
58:58 Closing & Disclaimers
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Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here:
https://www.bankless.com/disclosures
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Ethereum’s Next Decade | Tomasz K. Stańczak, Ansgar Dietrichs, Dankrad Feist, & Danny Ryan
This episode showcases four of the most important talks from our Bankless Summit event in Buenos Aires for Devconnect, each capturing how Ethereum is evolving as it enters the real world. Tomasz K. Stańczak reveals the EF’s new priorities around developer acceleration, founder support, institutional engagement, and unifying the L2 ecosystem. Ansgar Dietrichs explains why Ethereum is shifting from long-term exploration to near-term execution, detailing the plan to 3x L1 scale annually and accelerate real-time ZKVM progress. Dankrad Feist makes the case for a DeFi-centric L1 where Ethereum becomes the global liquidity layer for RWAs and high-value settlement. And Danny Ryan closes with a raw, personal account of building proof of stake, surviving an SEC scare, and why he still believes Ethereum can meaningfully reshape global finance. These talks matter because they chart the clearest picture yet of where Ethereum is heading, what the next decade requires, and how its core builders are steering it there.
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📣BANKLESS SUMMIT 2025 | SPONSORED BY M0
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TIMESTAMPS & RESOURCES
0:00 Intro
4:19 Tomasz K. Stańczak Ethereum's Next 5 Years
28:00 Ansgar Dietrichs Scaling Ethereum 2026: Why & How?
53:22 Dankrad Feist | Ethereum's DeFi Centric Strategy
1:10:22 Danny Ryan | The Last 8 Years: Ethereum, Burnout, & Coming Back
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Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here:
https://www.bankless.com/disclosures
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Why Prices Are Crashing & What's Next—How Mike Nadeau Called the Cycle
Michael Nadeau called the top before the 10/10 crash. In this episode, he sits down with Ryan to explain why. They break down the onchain data that flipped him risk off, Bitcoin’s decisive break below the 50-week moving average, and why global liquidity and rate cuts may not rescue this cycle. Michael shares the price zones where Bitcoin becomes compelling again, how long-term holder behavior maps to past tops, and the framework he’s using to build a high conviction watch list for the next bull.
Michael Nadeau
https://x.com/JustDeauIt
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📣REYA | ETHEREUM FOR TRADERS
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🗞️ THE DEFI REPORT | SIGN-UP & SUBSCRIBE (CODE: TDRPRO30)
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https://buy.stripe.com/dRm3cv84e6FYfFzbVgebu01
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🦄UNISWAP | SWAP ON UNICHAIN
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🛞MANTLE | MODULAR L2 NETWORK
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💤EIGHT SLEEP | IMPROVE YOUR SLEEP
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TIMESTAMPS & RESOURCES
0:00 Intro
0:48 Market Downturn Analysis
5:22 Risk-Off Position Insights
8:25 Market Structure Breakdown
9:49 October Call Reflection
11:27 November Confirmation
13:48 Market Psychology Overview
24:43 Cycling Through Market Phases
28:55 Wealth Destruction Zone
34:11 Markets KPIs
38:47 Long-Term Holder Dynamics
44:02 Cycle End Analysis
49:07 Global Liquidity Conditions
52:15 Trading Strategies Discussion
56:13 Price Points & Metrics
1:04:47 Watch List Strategy
1:07:38 Closing & Disclaimers
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Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here:
https://www.bankless.com/disclosures