An Inspector General review found Gary Gensler’s SEC-issued phone was wiped due to IT policy errors, erasing nearly a year of texts amid the agency’s aggressive crypto enforcement actions.
The SEC Inspector General reported that former Chair Gary Gensler’s government-issued phone lost nearly a year of text messages between October 18, 2022, and September 6, 2023, due to IT oversights and policy missteps. The device stopped syncing in July 2023, went unnoticed for 62 days, and was subsequently wiped under a 45-day inactivity rule. Attempts to restore it led to a factory reset, permanently deleting the texts. The lost period coincided with the SEC’s crackdown on crypto, including enforcement actions against Genesis, Gemini, Nexo, and Kraken, as well as warnings on Paxos and public statements labeling Ethereum a security. The report cited poor vendor coordination and weak change-management practices as contributing factors. Gensler, who announced he would resign on January 20, 2025, has since returned to MIT to teach and research AI, financial technology, and policy.