U.S. SEC Chair Gensler calls on Congress to help rein in crypto 'Wild West'

FILE PHOTO: U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler, pictured when he was chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, at a U.S. Senate Banking Committee hearing on systemic risk and market oversight on Capitol Hill in Washington May 22, 2012. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst/File Photo

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Tuesday called on Congress to give the agency more authority to better police cryptocurrency trading, lending and platforms, a "Wild West" he said is riddled with fraud and investor risk.

Gary Gensler said the crypto market involves many tokens which may be unregistered securities and leaves prices open to manipulation and millions of investors vulnerable to risks.