Commissioner Caroline Crenshaw officially left the SEC after the Senate Banking Committee canceled the renomination vote, leaving the body with only Republican members for the first time.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ( SEC ) has entered a new phase as Caroline Crenshaw, the last remaining Democratic commissioner and one of the most vocal critics of crypto assets, officially resigned on Friday. Her departure concludes more than a decade of service at the agency, marked by a consistently skeptical stance toward the crypto industry, and leaves a board composed almost exclusively of Republicans.
SEC Chairman Paul Atkins, along with Commissioners Hester Peirce and Mark Uyeda, issued a joint statement acknowledging: “Commissioner Crenshaw has dedicated more than a decade of outstanding service to the Securities and Exchange Commission. During those years, she has been a steadfast advocate for the agency’s mission.”
Crenshaw's departure comes after the Senate Banking Committee canceled its December 2024 renomination vote, virtually ending any prospect of a second term. The decision was made amid intense pressure from the cryptocurrency industry, with the Stand With Crypto advocacy group mobilizing over 107,000 protest emails sent to Senate offices.
With her term officially expiring in June 2024 and no successor yet approved, Crenshaw was forced to leave the agency after serving the maximum legally mandated time. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong was one of the strongest critics, writing in X in December 2024: “Caroline Crenshaw is a failure as an SEC Commissioner and should be voted out. She tried to block Bitcoin ETFs, and on some issues was worse than Gary Gensler.”
A tough stance on crypto assets and its political consequences.
Throughout her tenure, Crenshaw emerged as the most credible voice of opposition on crypto asset issues. When the SEC approved spot Bitcoin ETFs in January 2024 following a federal court ruling, she voted against it, calling the decision “unstable and ahistorical,” warning it would “put us on a misguided path that could sacrifice investor protection.”
After Democratic Commissioner Jaime Lizárraga left office in January 2025, every vote approving a crypto ETF passed by a 3-1 margin, with Crenshaw consistently opposing it, citing security risks, price volatility, and insufficient oversight.
Her opposition didn't stop at ETFs. When the SEC filed a settlement agreement with Ripple Labs in May 2025, closing a years-long enforcement case, Crenshaw voiced strong objections: “This agreement, along with the programmatic dismantling of the SEC’s crypto asset enforcement program, seriously harms the investing public.” At the Investor Advisory Committee meeting in December 2025, she continued to warn about the risks of tokenization and Tokenize securities products.
Crenshaw's departure leaves the SEC with only Republican members for the first time in years. Under federal law, no more than three commissioners can be from the same party, but the Trump administration prioritized not nominating Democratic commissioners.
Investment bank TD Cowen believes an all-Republican committee would help Atkins push through crypto-friendly rules faster, but warns that if the rules are partisan, the Democratic-led SEC would be highly likely to change them.
Speaking at the Blockchain Association Policy Summit in December, Atkins stated: “You don’t see anything yet. By next year, all the seeds we’ve sown will begin to sprout and grow.”
