Mark Uyeda has been appointed as Acting Chairman of the SEC, replacing Gary Gensler, amid a new administration that has yet to announce clear policies on cryptocurrency.
On January 20, the White House announced the appointment of Mark Uyeda, Commissioner of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), as Acting Chairman, replacing Gary Gensler. On the same day, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) also witnessed a leadership change when Caroline Pham took over the position of Acting Chairman from Rostin Behnam. These personnel changes come amid the cryptocurrency industry awaiting clear policy guidance from the new administration.
Uyeda's appointment, a Republican nominated to the SEC by former President Joe Biden in 2022, comes after former President Donald Trump expressed his intention to nominate Paul Atkins, a former SEC Commissioner, for this position. However, Atkins' nomination has yet to be considered by the Senate. In the meantime, Uyeda will assume the role of Acting Chairman.
New signals for the cryptocurrency market?
The leadership change at the SEC has drawn special attention from observers due to Uyeda's previous stance on cryptocurrency. While serving as an SEC Commissioner, Uyeda publicly criticized the agency's approach to digital assets under Gensler, arguing that the current measures do not support capital raising nor protect investors. This raises hopes for a more open legal environment for the cryptocurrency industry under Uyeda.
Under Gensler, the SEC actively enforced the law against cryptocurrency companies, suing many major names such as Ripple Labs, Coinbase, Terraform Labs, and Binance. The future of these lawsuits remains unclear under Uyeda's leadership. Some sources suggest that the SEC may consider pausing cases unrelated to fraud allegations.
The appointment of Pham as Acting Chairman of the CFTC is also seen as a significant development. The CFTC and SEC play a key role in shaping policies related to digital assets in the U.S. The coordination between these two agencies will have a significant impact on the development of the cryptocurrency market.
However, to date, the new administration has not announced any specific policies related to cryptocurrency. The policy priority list released on January 20 did not mention digital assets or blockchain technology. Although former President Trump pledged to commute the sentence of Ross Ulbricht, the founder of Silk Road, and there were reports of an executive order related to cryptocurrency, details have yet to be revealed.