Gary Gensler is (let’s just say it) widely despised in the crypto world for the SEC’s frequent aggressive “enforcement” actions and for his unwillingness to be clear about what is and isn’t legal when it comes to digital assets.

But is the story true? Let’s look at the evidence, and how this “story” came to be.

It may be true that “several senior Senate staffers” believe Gensler could become Treasury secretary in a Harris administration. Gensler has reportedly long coveted the job, and he would certainly be well-qualified: he worked on Wall Street (Goldman Sachs), he has headed both of the nation’s primary markets regulators (the SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission), and he was a professor at MIT. He is a versatile, experienced economics official; why wouldn’t he be a candidate for Treasury secretary? Aside from Harris having to win the presidency, a majority in the Senate And convincing both Democratic and Republican senators to support his nomination … it’s certainly possible Gensler will get the job next year, though most experts say that’s unlikely.

But the story is full of red flags that any decent editor would immediately flag in red ink. For example: “Those rumors confirm what top Republicans have also been telling the Reporter “on the record.” Rumors confirm nothing. And there’s nothing even close to a quote from anyone close to the Harris camp; the “probably” in the headline all comes from those Senate staffers.