Taking stock of the U.S. SEC’s personnel adjustments in the past six months, is the “new” SEC really more crypto-friendly?

This article will review the key changes at the SEC over the past six months and analyze whether the "new" SEC has truly opened a friendly door to cryptocurrencies.

Author: Fairy, ChainCatcher

Editor: TB, ChainCatcher

Within half a year, multiple key executives have been replaced, over 500 people have left, and departments have been restructured... The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has undergone intense adjustments in the first half of 2025.

This internal storm is quietly reshaping the regulatory landscape of the crypto market. This article will review the key changes at the SEC over the past six months and analyze whether the "new" SEC has truly opened a friendly door to cryptocurrencies.

Three Chairman Changes, "Adjusting" Crypto Regulation Rhythm

In the first half of 2025, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) experienced three chairman changes: Gary Gensler from the Biden administration, Acting Chairman Mark T. Uyeda, and current Chairman Paul Atkins. Unlike Gensler, who was known for his tough stance and frequent enforcement actions, both Uyeda and Atkins are considered to have a more crypto-friendly attitude.

Acting Chairman Mark T. Uyeda has consistently been open to crypto, having cast a crucial vote in favor of the Bitcoin spot ETF. During his short tenure as acting chairman, Uyeda quickly implemented the pro-crypto promises from the Trump administration: establishing a "Cryptocurrency Special Working Group" led by Hester Peirce; rescinding the much-criticized SAB 121 accounting policy; and setting up the "Cyber and Emerging Technologies Unit (CETU)" to replace the old "Crypto Assets and Cyber Unit".

In April 2025, Paul Atkins officially took over as SEC Chairman, further consolidating this shift in attitude. Atkins is not a stranger to the crypto world: as early as 2017, he served as co-chairman of the Token Alliance, actively promoting industry standards for token issuance and trading. According to Fortune, Atkins holds crypto-related assets worth approximately $6 million, including shares or other investments in crypto companies like Anchorage and Securitize.

After taking office, Atkins has repeatedly expressed a crypto-friendly stance, noting that "the crypto market has been stuck in the SEC's regulatory gray area for years" and promising to "return to the fundamental mission of promoting rather than suppressing innovation" during his tenure.

Major Changes in Core Departments

In addition to chairman changes, the SEC's core departments have also seen several key personnel adjustments. Here are the important position changes at the SEC from the beginning of the year to now:

Among these 10 changed executives, at least two new executives are considered to have crypto industry experience: Brian T. Daly, Director of Investment Management, and Jamie Selway, Director of Trading and Markets.

Brian T. Daly was previously a partner at the international law firm Akin Gump, with digital assets, cryptocurrencies, and blockchain listed as his areas of expertise. Jamie Selway was a partner at Sophron Advisors and served as the global head of institutional markets at Blockchain from 2018 to 2019.

More critically, the departments they manage are extremely important in the SEC's structure. The Investment Management Division oversees investment products and services, including mutual funds, ETFs, closed-end funds, and registered investment advisors. The Trading and Markets Division controls the operational rules for market infrastructures such as exchanges, market makers, brokers, and clearing houses. In other words, crypto ETFs and the crypto trading environment are influenced by these two departments.

Meanwhile, the SEC's enforcement department, a key "power center," has also been refreshed. The former Enforcement Division Director, Gurbir Grewal, who had a consistently tough stance on crypto, left in October 2024. During his tenure, he led multiple heavyweight crypto lawsuits, including those against Ripple and Coinbase. According to Cornerstone Research, the SEC initiated 33 crypto-related enforcement actions in 2024, involving 90 defendants or respondents.

After Grewal's departure, Sanjay Wadhwa took over as Acting Director, and the enforcement intensity has noticeably weakened. Between February and March this year, the SEC withdrew lawsuits against several well-known crypto companies, including Coinbase, ConsenSys, Robinhood, Gemini, Uniswap, and Kraken.

Additionally, the SEC launched a staff "buyout plan" in late February, offering $50,000 compensation to voluntary departures, ultimately resulting in over 500 employees choosing to leave early, about 10% of the agency's total staff. This "internal slimming down" has also created space for subsequent structural reorganization and policy shifts.

Has the SEC's "Crypto Rhythm" Changed?

In terms of regulatory trends, the SEC is moving forward through dense meetings and policy statements. In the first half of this year, the SEC has already held 6 roundtable discussions related to crypto, covering core issues such as regulatory frameworks, custody mechanisms, asset tokenization, and DeFi.

On the rule level, it is also making strides. On May 30, the SEC issued a policy statement regarding PoS network staking activities, for the first time clearly stating that three types of staking activities do not constitute securities issuance: self-staking by users, non-custodial third-party staking, and compliant custodial staking. This provides a clearer compliance path for current crypto staking services.

Meanwhile, the ETF approval process is acceleraccelerating. On June 11, the SEC sent notifications to multiple institutions planning to issue a Solana spot ETF, requesting them to resubmit a revised S-1 document within 7 days and promising to complete review feedback within 30 days of submission.

Personnel changes, loosened rules, and softened attitudes. This agency, which once made countless crypto projects feel like walking on thin ice, is now re-engaging with the industry.

Regulation will not disappear,, but future regulation may no longer be a high-net, but a bridge towards co-construction.

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