Dispread: "Pro-virtual asset figure Rep. Uyeda, strong candidate for next SEC chairman"

It has been analyzed that Mark Uyeda, a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) senator who is friendly to virtual assets, is likely to become the next SEC chairman. Former U.S. President Donald Trump had promised to fire SEC Chairman Gary Gensler on his first day in office during his candidacy.

On the 13th, Dispread Research, the research organization of the Web3 consulting firm Dispread, announced that it has published a report on the changes that will occur in the virtual asset market after the inauguration of Trump, the president-elect, in the U.S. presidential election. The report analyzed that as a time when clarity in regulations is needed for the development of the virtual asset industry, the president-elect Trump will fire SEC Chairman Gensler and appoint a virtual asset-friendly person as the next SEC chairman. Senator Mark Uyeda was cited as a likely candidate.



Senator Uyeda has repeatedly pointed out at official occasions that the SEC needs to completely revise its policies and approaches to virtual assets. He also argued in September that a virtual asset-customized S-1 form should be created. The S-1 form is a mandatory form for a company to register securities with the SEC. The report noted that "if a virtual asset-customized S-1 form is created, clear registration criteria for securities and commodities will be established, reflecting the unique characteristics of virtual assets such as smart contracts, token economies, and on-chain governance."

The report also focused on the passage of FIT21 through the U.S. Senate. FIT21 is a virtual asset-related bill introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives in May. It contains provisions to expand the regulatory authority of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) over virtual assets and limit the authority of the SEC. If this bill is passed, the CFTC will regulate digital assets that meet the functional and decentralization requirements of blockchain as commodities. The SEC will be responsible for regulating digital assets that meet the functional requirements but not the decentralization requirements as securities.

The report stated, "It is necessary to pay attention to whether Ethereum liquid staking tokens (LST) are classified as securities or commodities according to the decentralization requirements defined in FIT21," and "If they are classified as commodities, staking can be applied to Ethereum spot ETFs." Generally, when staking, the funds are locked and cannot be used. Liquid staking is designed to solve this by allowing users to receive alternative tokens representing their staked ETH, enabling them to utilize the liquidity. Representative examples are stETH by Lido and rETH by Rocket Pool. The SEC has previously sued the U.S. blockchain development company Consensys for selling unregistered securities, claiming that stETH and rETH are unregistered securities.

Kim Dong-hyeok, a researcher at Dispread, said, "President-elect Trump has said he will pursue virtual asset-friendly policies, centered on Bitcoin, departing from the anti-virtual asset policies of the Biden administration," and "In 2025, the dismissal of Chairman Gensler and the U.S. government's strategic stockpiling of Bitcoin, which are key campaign promises of the president-elect, are expected to be the driving forces behind the upward trend in the virtual asset market."

Reporter Yeri Do

yeri.do@decenter.kr