The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
announced that Chairman Gary Gensler will step down from his SEC chairmanship on January 20, 2025, the same day as Donald Trump's inauguration.
SEC Highlights Gensler's Crypto Enforcement Actions
According to the official press release, the 33rd Chairman Gary Gensler will resign from the Commission on January 20, 2025. Gensler led the SEC in developing a robust rulemaking agenda to enhance the efficiency, resilience, and integrity of the U.S. capital markets, and oversaw impactful enforcement cases, holding wrongdoers accountable and returning billions of dollars to harmed investors.
The SEC also highlighted the crypto enforcement actions under Gensler's leadership, demonstrating the reasonableness of the agency's actions against cryptocurrency companies: "Under Chairman Gensler's leadership, the Commission continued the work begun by Chairman Jay Clayton to protect crypto market investors. During Gensler's tenure, the agency brought actions against crypto intermediaries for fraud, manipulative trading, unregistered offerings, and other misconduct. According to the SEC Inspector General's office, in the last full fiscal year, while crypto assets accounted for less than 1% of the U.S. capital markets, 18% of the SEC's whistleblower tips, complaints, and referrals were crypto-related. The courts have agreed with the Commission's actions to protect investors, rejecting all arguments that the SEC lacks authority to enforce the securities laws at the time of digital asset offerings."
Who Are the Candidates to Succeed Gensler as SEC Chair?
Trump embraced the crypto industry during his campaign and vowed to fire the current SEC Chairman Gary Gensler, who was nominated by President Biden in 2021 to serve as the 33rd Chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, with a term originally set to expire in January 2026.
Trump has not yet announced his nominee for SEC leadership, but the next Chair is expected to be more crypto-friendly. According to
Bloomberg, the current candidates include:
- Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel partner Richard Farley
- Kirkland & Ellis partner Norm Champ
- Robinhood Markets Inc. general counsel Dan Gallagher
- Current SEC Commissioner Mark Uyeda
- Former Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chair Heath Tarbert
- Former SEC Commissioner Paul Atkins
- Willkie Farr & Gallagher partner Robert Stebbins
Additionally, there is the previously reported Brian Brooks, who was the OCC (Office of the Comptroller of the Currency) chief during Trump's last term and later served a brief four-month stint as Binance.US CEO before abruptly resigning and joining mining firm Bitfury as CEO.
(
Trump's New Hope: White House to Create Crypto Policy Role, Brian Brooks as SEC Chair Candidate?)
Whomever Trump selects, the next SEC Chair is likely to closely scrutinize major rules still pending or not yet in effect from the Gensler era, and seek to reduce regulation of the digital asset industry to comply with securities laws.
