SEC acting chair onboards ex-Coin Center director to crypto task force

Landon Zinda has stepped down from his position as policy director of cryptocurrency advocacy organization Coin Center to join the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s Crypto Task Force.

In a Feb. 4 notice, acting SEC Chair Mark Uyeda said Zinda had joined the commission as his counsel and a senior adviser to the crypto task force. The former Coin Center director will join Chief of Staff Richard Gabbert and Chief Policy Adviser Taylor Asher on the task force headed by Commissioner Hester Peirce. 

Coin Center communications director Neeraj Agrawal confirmed with Cointelegraph that Zinda was “no longer an employee.” As of Feb. 4, his name appeared on Coin Center’s website, and his LinkedIn profile showed that he had been working at the advocacy organization from March 2023 until the present. Cointelegraph reached out to the SEC for comment but did not receive a response at the time of publication.

The Crypto Task Force, announced on Jan. 21 after the departure of former SEC Chair Gary Gensler, aims to “help the Commission draw clear regulatory lines, provide realistic paths to registration, craft sensible disclosure frameworks, and deploy enforcement resources judiciously.” The SEC said the group would coordinate with other federal agencies, including the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

Crypto regulation under a US president with a memecoin?

Since Gensler’s departure and the inauguration of US President Donald Trump, many industry experts have suggested that the SEC could change course on regulating digital assets, potentially freezing or dropping enforcement actions not involving fraud. In a Feb. 4 notice, Commissioner Peirce said the SEC could consider providing “retroactive relief” for certain token offerings.

Under former SEC Chair Jay Clayton, the commission filed a lawsuit against Ripple Labs over its XRP (XRP) offerings. Under Gensler, crypto firms, including Coinbase and Binance, faced similar enforcement actions. 

Related: Crypto firms push for SEC changes, crypto out of courts

Trump, who launched his own memecoin on Jan. 17 before taking office, could potentially face inquiries from US regulators over his memecoin launch, despite the US president nominating or having political influence over those in their leadership. Some lawmakers and industry experts have suggested that Trump could still attempt a rug pull on the token’s investors.

Peirce and Uyeda, both Republicans, currently hold a majority at the SEC following the departure of Gensler and Commissioner Jaime Lizárraga. The five-seat panel is intended to hold five commissioners from both political parties, but to date, Trump has only nominated a replacement for Gensler’s term: former Commissioner Paul Atkins. 

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