Trump to kick start crypto with new SEC leadership: report

Following Trump’s inauguration in less than a week, top Republican officials at the US Securities and Exchange Commission are reportedly set to begin overhauling the agency’s policies on cryptocurrency. 

These changes are set to begin as early as next week once Trump takes office, three people briefed on the matter told Reuters. Commissioners Hester Peirce and Mark Uyeda are reportedly considering beginning the process that would lead to guidance that would clarify when the SEC considers cryptocurrency to be a security and a review of some cases pending in courts involving cryptocurrency.

Paul Atkins was nominated by Trump to be SEC chair and is crypto-friendly. Current SEC chair Gary Gensler has said that he would step down on the day Trump is sworn into office. Peirce and Uyeda, who are both crypto enthusiasts and will hold the majority among the SEC’s politically-appointed commissioners as of next week, previously worked as aides to Atkins when he worked at the SEC between 2002 and 2003. Sources with knowledge of private policy plans told the outlet that the three have discussed possible changes in crypto policy.

Under Gensler, the SEC brought at least 83 crypto-related enforcement actions, including suing prominent companies like Kraken and Coinbase. The SEC argued in many cases that crypto tokens behave like securities and therefore the companies and their products should comply with SEC rules. 

The SEC is expected to start reviewing those court cases and possibly freezing or possibly withdrawing some of them if they don’t involve fraud allegations in the first few days of the new administration, two of the sources said. Many of the defendants in these cases argue that cryptocurrencies are more like commodities than securities and it is not clear when SEC rules apply. 

The two sources said that Peirce and Uyeda are expected to begin the early stages of the rule-writing process, which could include a call for industry and public feedback. 

Trump is also expected to issue executive orders in his first day in office related to cryptocurrency. A source told the Washington Post, "The Trump team has made it very clear that this is a priority."

Trump has appointed tech entrepreneur David Sacks as the White House AI & Crypto Czar, writing that Sacks "will guide policy for the Administration in Artificial Intelligence and Cryptocurrency, two areas critical to the future of American competitiveness."