SEC Commissioner Caroline Crenshaw, the agency's last remaining Democratic member and a persistent critic of the cryptocurrency industry, has officially departed the Securities and Exchange Commission. Her exit, announced Friday, marks the end of a tenure characterized by unwavering skepticism toward digital assets.
SEC Chair Paul Atkins, along with Commissioners Hester Peirce and Mark Uyeda, released a joint statement acknowledging Crenshaw's departure. "Commissioner Crenshaw has devoted more than a decade of distinguished service to the Securities and Exchange Commission," the statement read. "Over those years, she has been a steadfast advocate for the agency's mission—demonstrating clarity of purpose and generosity of spirit."
Crenshaw's departure follows the cancellation of her renomination vote by the Senate Banking Committee in Dec. 2024, effectively ending her prospects for a second term. The cancellation came amid intense pressure from the digital asset industry and crypto-friendly lawmakers, with advocacy group Stand With Crypto mobilizing over 107,000 emails to Senate offices opposing her reconfirmation.
SEC commissioners can serve for up to 18 months after their term expires if no successor is confirmed. Since Crenshaw's term officially expired in June 2024, she was required to depart the agency. The Trump administration has frequently left regulatory bodies like the SEC and CFTC understaffed, preferring not to nominate Democratic commissioners, despite legal requirements for bipartisan representation. President Trump recently said that he is "open" to nominating Democrats to the SEC and CFTC vacancies, though he did not provide firm details.
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong was among the most vocal industry critics of Crenshaw. "Caroline Crenshaw was a failure as an SEC Commissioner and should be voted out," he wrote on X in Dec. 2024. "She tried to block the Bitcoin ETFs, and was worse than [former SEC Chair Gary] Gensler on some issues (which I didn't think was possible)."
A consistent crypto skeptic
Throughout her tenure, Crenshaw emerged as the commission's most reliable dissenting voice on cryptocurrency matters. When the SEC approved spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds in Jan. 2024 following a federal court ruling, Crenshaw cast a dissenting vote, calling the decision "unsound and ahistorical" and warning it would "put us on a wayward path that could further sacrifice investor protection."
That pattern held across the board. Following Democratic Commissioner Jaime Lizárraga's departure from the agency in Jan. 2025, each crypto ETF approval vote passed 3-1, with Crenshaw voting against each one, citing security risks, price volatility, and what she characterized as inadequate regulatory oversight of digital assets.
Her opposition to crypto extended beyond ETFs. When the SEC filed a settlement agreement with Ripple Labs in May 2025, ending the agency's years-long enforcement case, Crenshaw issued a scathing dissent. "This settlement, alongside the programmatic disassembly of the SEC's crypto enforcement program, does a tremendous disservice to the investing public and undermines the court's role in interpreting our securities laws," she wrote.
Her skepticism persisted through her final months. At a Dec. 2025 SEC Investor Advisory Committee meeting on tokenization, Crenshaw raised concerns about risks to investors and warned that tokenized equity products marketed as "wrapped securities" are "far from a one-to-one replica of the underlying asset to which they are supposedly linked."
An all-Republican Commission
Crenshaw's departure leaves the SEC with an all-Republican panel for the first time in years. Under federal law, no more than three commissioners can belong to the same political party, meaning the current Republican lineup—Chair Paul Atkins, Hester Peirce, and Mark Uyeda—is at capacity until the Senate confirms a non-Republican replacement.
The political composition represents a stark shift for an agency that traditionally maintains bipartisan balance, with the president's party typically holding a 3-2 majority.
Investment bank TD Cowen previously noted that an all-Republican commission would help Atkins advance crypto-friendly rules more quickly. However, the firm's Washington Research Group also warned of risks to bipartisanship. "If the rules are viewed as partisan, then a Democratic SEC is more likely to change them," analyst Jaret Seiberg wrote.
What comes next
The crypto regulatory landscape has shifted dramatically since former Chair Gary Gensler departed in Jan. 2025. Under Atkins' leadership, the SEC has dropped numerous enforcement investigations, approved multiple crypto ETFs beyond Bitcoin, and embarked on comprehensive rule modernization efforts.
Speaking at the Blockchain Association Policy Summit in December, Atkins signaled aggressive plans for early 2026. "You ain't seen nothing yet," he said. "As far as next year, all the seeds that we've planted will be able to start seeding and sprouting."
The SEC declined to comment on the timeline for filling the vacant Democratic seats.
