Donald Trump has officially started his second term as US President and his return has already kickstarted changes across the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Gary Gensler, the 33rd Chair of the SEC under Joe Biden’s administration, announced that he would be stepping down from the role once Trump was sworn in yesterday, with Mark Uyeda taking over the reins on a part-time basis.
This is due to Paul Atkins, Trump’s nominee for the role of SEC Chair, awaiting confirmation from the Senate. If successful, it would be the second time Atkins held the role after serving for six years as the Head of the SEC from 2002-2008 under George W. Bush’s presidency.
Uyeda and Atkins share similar views on cryptocurrency regulation and have widely criticised the outgoing Gensler’s actions and often labelled ‘aggressive’ oversight.
During his time as SEC Chair from 2021-2025, Gensler sued some of the largest crypto exchanges operating in the US, such as Binance, Coinbase, Ripple Labs and more.
Gensler believed that the digital assets that these exchanges circulated to its customers should be classified as regulated financial instruments, or securities, and therefore should register with the SEC at risk of being shut down.
Many supporters of the US crypto sector believed that Gensler was holding back the momentum of the industry, stifling innovation and more importantly, not providing clear and transparent guidelines in which to abide by.
It’s not just opposition from those in the crypto sector that disliked Gensler’s handlings, but also political figures, none more so than Trump. He has bashed the policies of Gensler regarding crypto and has made the digital asset sector a key part of his financial manifesto.
In a bid to form an SEC that aligns with his ambitions to make the US the crypto capital of the world, Trump confirmed his nominee Atkins last December, posting on the social media platform Truth Social on his reasoning.
He shared: “(Atkins) believes in the promise of robust, innovative capital markets that are responsive to the needs of Investors, & that provide capital to make our Economy the best in the World. He also recognizes that digital assets & other innovations are crucial to Making America Greater than Ever Before.”
Unsurprisingly, Uyeda, another critic of Gensler’s crypto handlings, has overseen the departures of a majority of senior legal officials that worked under his predecessor’s time.