PANews reported on January 21 that, according to The Block, U.S. President Trump has appointed SEC senior official Mark Uyeda to lead the agency until a permanent chairman is confirmed. Mark Uyeda has been critical of the SEC's cryptocurrency regulatory approach under former chairman Gary Gensler, calling its enforcement "poorly conceived cryptocurrency policies" and calling for more clarity in cryptocurrency regulation. Uyeda and SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce, who is also a Republican, said in a speech last March that "the environment we have created for the crypto asset market, especially as it relates to secondary trading, is unsustainable."
With Gensler's departure and Republicans holding a majority on the SEC, the SEC will undergo a regulatory shift on cryptocurrencies. According to a Reuters report last week, Peirce and Gensler are weighing whether to initiate a process to clarify the SEC's view on cryptocurrencies, and may decide to review pending enforcement cases, which could happen soon.
Gensler previously served as securities law advisor to former Republican Senator Pat Toomey of the Senate Banking Committee, and also served as an advisor to former SEC Commissioners Michael Piwowar and Paul Atkins. Atkins is crypto-friendly, and he has also been formally announced to lead the SEC, with a term until June 5, 2026. Trump appointed Atkins last December. Atkins still needs to be confirmed by the Senate.
According to Monday's announcement, Trump also designated Travis Hill as acting chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). Hill is the agency's vice chairman, and he said earlier this month that, after the government has been criticized for excluding the cryptocurrency industry, the FDIC should more clearly explain how banks can work with cryptocurrencies.
