SEC Chair Gary Gensler offered new warnings about cryptocurrencies as bitcoin (BTC-USD) surged to a new all-time high Friday, saying in an interview with Yahoo Finance that "the whole field is rife with abuses and fraud." Investors, he added, should be aware that bitcoin is a "highly speculative, volatile underlying asset." His comments came minutes after the world's largest cryptocurrency reached another record high, climbing above $69,000 on Friday. Earlier this week it exceeded a previous high last set during a 2021 boom, reinforcing a remarkable comeback following a 2022 crash that created huge losses for investors. The new frenzy is being driven by demand from a series of spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds that started trading in January after receiving approvals from the SEC. Gensler voted in favor of those ETFs. On Friday he said of that decision, "I thought it was the most straightforward path forward."
