SEC is waiting for a chair before setting crypto agenda — Hester Peirce

Hester Peirce, heading the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC’s) crypto task force, said the agency will likely wait until the Senate confirms a chair before deciding on an agenda for digital assets.

Speaking virtually at a Federalist Society panel on Feb. 11, Commissioner Peirce said it was “a little premature” for the SEC to begin setting a regulatory agenda for cryptocurrencies without a chair confirmed by the Senate who could take charge. Mark Uyeda assumed the position of acting chair following the departure of Gary Gensler on Jan. 20, but the Senate is expected to vote on President Donald Trump’s nomination of former SEC commissioner Paul Atkins soon.

“Acting Chairman Uyeda is doing a great job, and the agenda is working — we haven’t stopped working,” said Peirce. “But we assume that sometime soon if Chairman Atkins is confirmed as chairman, he’ll come in and want to set his agenda.”

On Jan. 28 — one week after taking office — Trump nominated Atkins to be an SEC commissioner for a term ending in June 2031. As of Feb. 11, lawmakers in the Senate Banking Committee had yet to consider his nomination, which would require a majority of senators present to choose to move Trump’s pick to the chamber for a full floor vote. 

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Peirce added that the SEC was “trying to figure out” a path forward for rulemaking on digital assets. An appellate court issued a ruling in January that said it would not order the commission to develop clear rules of the road for crypto firms but largely agreed with Coinbase’s position that the SEC made an “arbitrary and capricious” decision in denying a rulemaking request.

Following the formation of the SEC’s crypto task force, the commission requested delays for at least two of its previously filed enforcement actions in different jurisdictions, suggesting that the agency’s work in developing a regulatory framework could affect its position. An Illinois judge granted the SEC request for a 30-day extension in a crypto case against Cumberland DRW, but a District of Columbia court had not responded to a similar request in the commission’s case against Binance at the time of publication.

Peirce and Uyeda, both Republicans, currently sit on the SEC with Democratic Commissioner Caroline Crenshaw. It’s unclear whether Trump intends to nominate a fifth commissioner to fill the leadership at the financial regulator should Atkins be confirmed.

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