When he spoke to the Bitcoin faithful at a conference in July, Donald Trump made plenty of promises. But the biggest cheers came after his pledge to fire the head of the US’ top financial regulator.
Even Trump was taken aback by the response.
“I didn’t know he was that unpopular,” Trump said, his voice almost drowned out by attendees’ cheers. “Let me say it again. On day one, I will fire Gary Gensler.”
Now, the president-elect, who scored a resounding victory in Tuesday’s US election, is in a position to target Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gensler when Trump assumes office in January 2025.
Gensler’s unpopularity can be traced to his unbending approach to crypto regulation.
Over half of the crypto-related enforcement actions the SEC have taken since 2015 have come during Gensler’s three-year tenure, according to an analysis by crypto venture capital firm Paradigm.
For his part, Gensler has argued his agency was attempting to clean up a rogue industry whose “leading lights” were “in jail, about to go to jail, or awaiting extradition.”
Crypto executives and investors, meanwhile, have pushed back, seeing Gensler as a rogue bureaucrat who was attempting to sue a growing industry into submission or push it offshore.
Those crypto critics are about to have their day.
Despite his promise, Trump cannot fire Gensler — but he can demote the former Goldman Sachs executive from his leadership role. Then, the Republican president-elect is most likely to appoint a new chair, and almost all the rumoured candidates have ties to crypto.
The list of those candidates does not include “crypto mom” Hester Peirce, an SEC commissioner who has consistently opposed the agency’s lawsuits against crypto companies. But her name has been floated to succeed him, and industry executives have pined for her to lead the agency.
According to reports in Axios and Unchained, Peirce is currently not angling for the job and is more likely to try her hand at beekeeping back home in Ohio.
But the list does include another SEC commissioner, a “crypto dad,” and other industry allies.
Mark Uyeda
SEC Commissioner Mark Uyeda has partnered with Peirce on several opinions attacking the agency’s decision to sue crypto companies.
“Leaving crypto to be addressed in an endless series of misguided and overreaching cases has been and continues to be a consequential mistake,” they wrote in September after the SEC sued Flyfish Club for selling non-fungible tokens.
Uyeda called the agency’s approach to crypto a “disaster for the whole industry” during an appearance on Fox Business last month.
Uyeda wants to lead the SEC and has “decent odds” of doing so, crypto attorney Jake Chervinsky said on X Wednesday.
Before he was appointed to the commission in 2022, Uyeda was securities counsel to former Pennsylvania Senator Pat Toomey, who was considered an industry ally before he left the Senate in 2023.
Dan Gallagher
Dan Gallagher, chief legal officer at Robinhood, is also considered a leading candidate to lead the SEC, according to a Politico report from October citing a dozen regulators, lobbyists, and securities lawyers.
Robinhood is a trading and investing application that became popular with retail investors during the pandemic.
In May, the company said the SEC was considering suing it over its crypto business.
“We firmly believe that the assets listed on our platform are not securities,” Gallagher said at the time.
“We look forward to engaging with the SEC to make clear just how weak any case against Robinhood Crypto would be on both the facts and the law.”
Before joining Robinhood, Gallagher served four years as an SEC commissioner and as partner at white shoe law firm WilmerHale. He has been a critic of financial regulations implemented in the wake of the Great Recession.
Gallagher told Politico he would have sought tailored rules for crypto had he been SEC chair the past couple of years.
He added it was an honour to be included on a shortlist of potential SEC chairpeople. The publication said it was unclear whether he would take the job if offered.
Chris Giancarlo
Politico also pegged “CryptoDad” Chris Giancarlo as a potential SEC chair.
A former head of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Giancarlo is co-chair of the digital works practise at Willkie Farr & Gallagher.
During his tenure as chair of the financial regulator, Giancarlo oversaw the approval of the first Bitcoin futures products.
In 2021, he published a book titled “CryptoDad: The Fight for the Future of Money,” and this year, he joined the board of stablecoin issuer Paxos.
He serves on the board of advisers of The Digital Chamber, a crypto lobbying firm.
Paul Atkins
Some people close to Trump suggested he appoint former SEC Commissioner Paul Atkins, according to a CNBC report from July.
In 2016, The Wall Street Journal called Atkins “Trump’s point man on financial regulation” and someone who “favours a light touch.”
Atkins is the founder of financial services consultancy Patomak Global Partners LLC, and, like Giancarlo, serves on The Digital Chamber’s board of advisers.
Heath Tarbert
Crypto investors have also floated Heath Tarbert, chief legal officer at stablecoin issuer Circle, as a likely successor to Gensler, according to CNBC.
Tarbert was previously chair of the CFTC and chief legal officer at Citadel Securities.
Robert Stebbins
Giancarlo’s colleague at Willkie Farr, partner Robert Stebbins, is another contender, according to Politico.
He’s the sole candidate without explicit ties to the crypto industry.
Stebbins previously served as general counsel at the SEC.
Aleks Gilbert is a DeFi correspondent based in New York. You can reach him at aleks@dlnews.com.