Commissioner Mark Ueda He will take over The SEC manages as the agency awaits Senate confirmation of President Donald Trump’s pick for the permanent position, Paul Atkins.
Acting Chairman Ueda, who has been a vocal proponent of relief for the cryptocurrency industry regulator’s push alongside fellow Republican Commissioner Hester Peirce, had previously worked with Atkins as a consultant at the agency. Atkins, who was officially nominated hours after Trump was sworn in on Monday, is a former commissioner who developed ties to cryptocurrencies at his consulting firm in Washington.
Ueda expressed his strong opinions on the role of the SEC regarding digital assets. He has routinely criticized the committee majority over moves to rein in cryptocurrencies, such as the so-called Staff Accountability Bulletin 121 (SAB 121) that has made it harder for banks to maintain digital asset customers. He said he would prefer to get rid of them, a move that was now within his power.
The change of chiefs at the agency has not been officially announced, although the remaining commissioners — including Hester Pierce and Caroline Crenshaw — They issued a joint statement Upon the exit of former President Gary Gensler.
“Although we as commissioners approached policy issues from different perspectives, there was always dignity in our differences,” the commissioners said. “Chairman Gensler has committed to bipartisanship and the respectful exchange of ideas, which has helped facilitate our service to the American public.”
Gensler had previously announced that he would resign at noon on January 20 — the same time Trump was sworn into office.
Gensler has become the cryptocurrency industry’s main government opponent in recent years. He has pursued enforcement issues, pushed controversial cryptocurrency accounting policy, and favored stringent rule proposals that threatened the industry’s business model and — for a time — prevented the creation of spot crypto exchange-traded funds (ETFs). On the latter point, the court’s ruling against the agency forced Gensler to ultimately vote with Republicans on the committee to clear the way for ETFs.
His agency argued in court that existing law was sufficient to classify and regulate crypto assets. This position has been supported by some federal judges and opposed by others, and central issues continue to make their way through the courts.
The SEC that Ueda chairs, however long his tenure, is absent from virtually all of the top legal officials who worked under Gensler, including the Enforcement Division and the Office of General Counsel.
The acting president has the full authority of the office, but people in that position sometimes choose to defer to the new president and wait for big decisions.
And at the SEC’s sister agency, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Republican Commissioner Carolyn Pham has been elevated to acting chair there, although Trump has not yet named a permanent successor to the outgoing Democratic chair, Rustin Behnam.
In contrast to the CFTC, which is currently split 2-2, Republicans on the SEC outnumber the only Democrats 2-1.
