The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently transferred Jorge Tenreiro, the core lawyer responsible for major Metamask and Coinbase cryptocurrency lawsuits, to the Information Systems Management Department. Tenreiro has served at the SEC for over 11 years, initially as an enforcement attorney, and has been the Deputy Chief of the Crypto Assets and Cyber Unit since October 2022 until November 2024.
Crypto Mom lists the SEC Crypto Assets Working Group's 'Top 10 Priorities'
The SEC Crypto Assets Working Group led by "Crypto Mom" Hester Peirce also issued a statement on Tuesday, outlining 10 priority items for the new Crypto Working Group. These include: resolving whether cryptocurrencies are securities or commodities, determining which areas are outside the SEC's jurisdiction, prospective and retroactive relief for token offerings..., with the aim of providing clearer regulatory guidance for the crypto industry.
SEC proposes ICO Token Relief Measures, releases policy tailwinds
In addition to the personnel changes, the SEC has recently proposed relief measures for past initial coin offerings (ICOs). According to Cointelegraph, the policy proposed by Hester Peirce could potentially benefit companies that issued tokens during the 2017-2018 ICO boom.
Legal advisor Franco Jofré stated:
Projects with clear utility, rather than purely speculative tokens, are more likely to receive relief. For example, DeFi projects, Layer 2 scaling solutions, and other infrastructure using tokens for governance or security purposes are potential beneficiaries.
However, Jofré also pointed out that the SEC is unlikely to withdraw all lawsuits against crypto companies. If a project involves fraud or misled investors during the ICO process, it would be difficult to obtain an exemption even under the new policy. The SEC may choose to provide relief only for future projects and not comprehensively withdraw existing lawsuits.
The new regulatory model is welcomed by the industry, but adjustments still need time
Bill Hughes, a lawyer at Consensys, the crypto company behind the Metamask crypto wallet, believes:
The SEC's new regulatory approach under its new leadership has brought a "new atmosphere" to the crypto industry, but policy implementation still requires time. He called on the industry to be patient and wait for the policies to be concretized, but also emphasized that "it is impossible to wait indefinitely," and expects to see major progress by this summer at the latest.
Hughes also praised the SEC's approach of inviting crypto companies to participate in the regulatory process, which has long been an industry demand, as it helps to establish a more transparent and fair regulatory environment.
