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Members of the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission also announced on Jan. 20 that Caroline Pham would serve as acting chair, filling two crucial regulatory roles.
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US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) member Mark Uyeda will be acting chair of the financial regulator as of Jan. 20 following an announcement from the Trump administration.
In a Jan. 20 notice from the White House, President Donald Trump said Uyeda would replace outgoing SEC Chair Gary Gensler in an acting capacity until the US Senate could confirm one of his nominees. Uyeda, a Republican, has served at the SEC since 2022 after being nominated by former US President Joe Biden.
Before taking office, Trump announced on social media that he planned to nominate former SEC Commissioner Paul Atkins to replace Gensler. Atkins’ name appeared on a list of sub-cabinet appointments Trump said he had nominated to the Senate. It’s unclear when the chamber could consider his nomination as an SEC member.
Members of the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission announced on Jan. 20 that Commissioner Caroline Pham would serve as acting chair after Rostin Behnam stepped down. The heads of the two financial regulators will be in a position to significantly influence policy related to digital assets.
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As an SEC member, Uyeda criticized the commission’s approach to digital assets under Gensler, claiming that it “neither facilitates capital formation nor protects investors.” The SEC filed several enforcement actions against US-based crypto firms under the former chair, including Ripple Labs, Coinbase, Terraform Labs, and Binance.
New administration, new approach to crypto?
It’s unclear what the status of these lawsuits will be under the Trump administration or acting chair Uyeda. The SEC will reportedly consider freezing all enforcement cases that didn’t involve allegations of fraud.
Since taking the oath of office at 12:00 pm ET, Trump has not mentioned digital assets or blockchain on his first official day as US President. He had also pledged to commute the sentence of Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht.
Reports suggested Trump was planning on signing an executive order potentially related to crypto, but the White House had not announced anything at the time of publication. Neither digital assets nor blockchain appeared on the administration’s list of policy priorities as they were first published on Jan. 20.
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This article first appeared at Cointelegraph.com News
