Commissioner Mark T. Uyeda will take on the top post while Commissioner Hester Peirce will lead a task force on new crypto policies.
Mark T. Uyeda
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) under the new Trump team is wasting no time when it comes to forging policies that the now-former SEC Chair Gary Gensler fought against during his time at the top, particularly those concerning cryptocurrencies and other digital assets.
Gensler stepped down on January 20 and Commissioner Mark T. Uyeda was named the new SEC Acting Chairman on January 21. Rather than rest on new laurels, Uyeda, a Republican from California, has already launched “a crypto task force dedicated to developing a comprehensive and clear regulatory framework for crypto assets.”
Uyeda will be ushering in a new crypto era before the U.S. Senate can confirm Paul Atkins, President Trump’s choice for permanent SEC Chair. Atkins is considered to be favorably inclined to the cryptocurrency phenomenon. Trump tapped Uyeda to be acting chairman as Atkins awaits Senate approval to be the next head of the SEC.
A former SEC commissioner from 2002 to 2008, Atkins is serving as CEO and is the founder of Patomak Global Partners. “Since 2017, Mr. Atkins has led industry efforts to develop best practices for digital asset issuances and trading platforms as co-chair of the Token Alliance,” according to the Patomak website.
At Patomak, Atkins oversees client work for financial services firms such as “domestic financial services regulatory issues, new financial products, business strategy, and corporate governance,” according to the firm’s website. “His expert witness engagements include federal, state, and foreign litigation, as well as Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) matters.”
Uyeda will likely step down as the acting chairman if Atkins is ultimately confirmed.
Hester Peirce
The crypto task force will be led by Commissioner Hester Peirce, who has been a consistent and colorfully literary opponent of most of Gensler’s policies and initiatives.
Peirce will be aided by Richard Gabbert, senior advisor to the acting chairman, who will serve as the task force’s chief of staff while Taylor Asher, senior policy advisor to the acting chairman, will serve as the chief policy advisor.
The task force will draw from SEC staff across the agency, and “will collaborate with commission staff and the public to set the SEC on a sensible regulatory path that respects the bounds of the law,” according to the announcement.
“To date, the SEC has relied primarily on enforcement actions to regulate crypto retroactively and reactively, often adopting novel and untested legal interpretations along the way. Clarity regarding who must register, and practical solutions for those seeking to register, have been elusive. The result has been confusion about what is legal, which creates an environment hostile to innovation and conducive to fraud. The SEC can do better,” according to a statement about the task force’s mission. “The Task Force’s focus will be to help the commission draw clear regulatory lines, provide realistic paths to registration, craft sensible disclosure frameworks, and deploy enforcement resources judiciously.”
The Task Force will stay within the statutory lines of Congress “and will coordinate the provision of technical assistance to Congress as it makes changes to that framework. The Task Force will coordinate with federal departments and agencies, including the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and state and international counterparts,” SEC officials say.
“I look forward to the efforts of Commissioner Peirce to lead regulatory policy on crypto, which involves multiple SEC divisions and offices,” Uyeda says in a prepared statement. The task force will hold roundtables in the future over the coming months but invites public input at Crypto@sec.gov.
“This undertaking will take time, patience, and much hard work. It will succeed only if the Task Force has input from a wide range of investors, industry participants, academics, and other interested parties. We look forward to working hand-in-hand with the public to foster a regulatory environment that protects investors, facilitates capital formation, fosters market integrity, and supports innovation,” Peirce says in a statement.
“Uyeda was first sworn into office as a commissioner on June 30, 2022, after being confirmed by the U.S. Senate. He was subsequently re-nominated and confirmed for a five-year term expiring in 2028. During President Trump’s first term, he served on detail to senior leadership at the U.S. Department of the Treasury and Secretary Eugene Scalia at the U.S. Department of Labor,” according to the SEC.
Uyeda has also “served on detail to the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. At the SEC, he has served as senior advisor to Chairman Jay Clayton, counsel to Commissioners Michael S. Piwowar and Paul S. Atkins, and assistant director and senior special counsel in the Division of Investment Management.”
Before his tenure on the SEC, former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed Uyeda to serve as the chief advisor to the California Corporations Commissioner, the state’s securities regulator, officials say.
With the onset of the second Trump administration, Gensler was never expected to be a part of the new team. During the 2024 presidential campaign, Trump vowed to replace Gensler and find a chairperson who had a more favorable stance toward digital assets and would be less aggressive on the regulatory front.
As Gensler was leaving, Uyeda, Peirce, and Commissioner Caroline A. Crenshaw issued a “Statement on the Departure of Chair Gary Gensler,” dated Jan. 20.
Paul Atkins
In the farewell note, the commissioners reviewed Gensler’s time as chair and acknowledged the civility he engendered amid the ambitious agenda he brought to the SEC.
“Although as Commissioners we approached policy issues from different perspectives, there was always dignity in our differences. Chair Gensler has been committed to bipartisan engagement and a respectful exchange of ideas, which has helped facilitate our service to the American public. For that, we are deeply grateful,” according to the statement.
Need a Reprint?