The SEC’s ‘war on crypto must end,’ says SEC commissioner who could get top job
Mark Uyeda, one of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) Republican members, wants to end the regulator’s alleged “war on crypto.”
The cryptocurrency lobby has railed hard against the SEC and its chair, Gary Gensler, who has become uniquely despised by much of the crypto industry for the agency’s strict oversight. The Blockchain Association, which represents almost 100 industry participants, has said its members have spent more than $429 million fighting the SEC.
Uyeda, who has served on the commission since 2022, has been a frequent defender of crypto companies. In September, he and Commissioner Hester Peirce blasted the SEC for a series of “misguided and overreaching cases,” as part of a dissenting opinion related to a company selling non-fungible tokens (NFTs). A month later, he described the SEC’s approach as a “disaster.”
“The Commission’s war on crypto must end, including crypto enforcement actions solely based on a failure to register with no allegation of fraud or harm,” Uyeda told Fox Business this week. “President Trump and the American electorate have sent a clear message. Starting in 2025, the SEC’s role is to carry out that mandate.”
The crypto lobby has reacted enthusiastically to Donald Trump’s election victory this week, saying it shows voters want change in the U.S., including on crypto policy. More than 260 pro-crypto House candidates and 18 Senate candidates won their respective elections this week, according to Stand with Crypto Alliance, an industry political action committee.
With Trump heading back to the White House, he’s expected to make a series of adjustments to the federal government’s crypto stance.
On the campaign trail, he positioned himself as a “crypto candidate,” actively embracing digital assets as part of his campaign and pledging to establish a national Bitcoin reserve. He also has a few crypto projects of his own, in the form of a line of NFTs and World Liberty Financial — a decentralized finance project that’s named him “chief crypto advocate” and his sons as ambassadors and visionaries.
Trump is expected to strip away Gensler’s chairmanship on “day one,” although he isn’t allowed to actually fire him. Gensler’s term expires in June 2026, but some researchers expect Gensler to resign from his post.
Uyeda, a vocal critic of the SEC’s stance on crypto, could be in the running to replace Gensler, although the competition is stacked. Leading contenders include Dan Gallagher, the chief legal officer at Robinhood (HOOD) and a former Republican SEC commissioner, and Peirce, a favorite of the crypto community dubbed “crypto mom.”
“She would be the best choice. Smart, fair, professional. Can work with both sides,” Coinbase (COIN) CEO Brian Armstrong wrote Wednesday on X, referring to Peirce.
Peirce’s term expires next June, and Fox Business (FOXA), citing unnamedsources, reports that she would rather lead an internal task force dedicated to reevaluating the SEC’s approach to crypto. Gallagher told Politico last month that it’s “an honor to have my name included in any discussion of who may be the next SEC chairman.”
