Many are speculating that the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), under new leadership since the inauguration of President Donald Trump, could drop some of its enforcement cases against crypto firms.
According to multiple filings with the SEC as of Feb. 24, in the last seven days, officials with the commission’s crypto task force have met with representatives from several firms and industry leaders to discuss issues “related to regulation of crypto assets.” The task force, launched on Jan. 21 and headed by Commissioner Hester Peirce, met with the advocacy group Crypto Council for Innovation, infrastructure provider Zero Hash, crypto investment firm Paradigm Operations, and Strategy executive chair Michael Saylor.
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All firms and individuals involved with the discussions provided documents suggesting that the SEC reevaluate its previously held position that many cryptocurrencies were securities under its purview. The commission has several pending enforcement actions against firms, the majority of which were filed under then-Chair Gary Gensler, but dropped an investigation into Robinhood Crypto and OpenSea. It may decide to end a case against crypto exchange Coinbase.
The reported meetings followed similar discussions between the SEC crypto task force and representatives of the Blockchain Association, Jito Labs, Multicoin Capital, and others. It’s unclear whether the commission intends to move forward with charting a different regulatory path under acting chair Mark Uyeda or wait until the US Senate confirms an official head for the agency — anticipated to be former commissioner Paul Atkins.
Related: SEC agrees to drop enforcement case against Coinbase
In a Feb. 21 statement titled ‘There Must Be Some Way Out of Here,’ Peirce called for public input regarding the agency considering a regulatory framework for crypto, which “may not itself be a security.” The SEC commissioner suggested the agency might consider a regulatory sandbox for projects to address jurisdictional issues.
‘Crypto-friendly’ SEC or kowtowing to the industry?
Without a Senate-confirmed SEC chair and with the task force roughly a month old, the agency has still suggested that it intends to pursue regulatory and legal paths favoring the industry. The apparent change comes under a US President who campaigned to remove regulatory roadblocks for the industry and launched his own memecoin a few days before taking office.
On Feb. 19, the commission moved for a court ’ to voluntarily dismiss its appeal blocking a controversial broker-dealer rule over some crypto firms. The appeal was filed before Gensler left the SEC.
As of Feb. 24, the Senate Banking Committee has not set a hearing date to discuss Atkins’ nomination to head the SEC. Some of Trump’s other nominations have moved through mainly along party lines, including hedge fund manager Scott Bessent as Treasury Secretary.
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