The SEC will get new leaders in January. What exactly will change for the crypto space?

Unfortunately, the SEC chairman appointed by Joe Biden was remembered by crypto fans exclusively for his bad side. After all, Gary Gensler’s approach boiled down to accusing crypto projects of belonging to the category of unregistered securities, which eventually became the basis for lawsuits. This strategy was even called regulation by coercion.

Thus, representatives of Binance, Kraken, Coinbase and many other well-known companies ended up in court, while some platforms like the decentralized exchange Uniswap received the so-called Wells notice, hinting at an imminent trial.

The commission required crypto companies to obtain special registration within the regulator, but did not disclose the details of this process. Yes, under Gary Gensler, the SEC did approve spot ETFs for Bitcoin and Ethereum, but this decision was clearly political.


Further on, we are tentatively awaiting an adequate composition of regulator commissioners. Therefore, the changes here will be more drastic.

Who Will Lead the SEC in 2025?

As we have already noted, Trump has chosen Paul Atkins, who is known for his positive attitude towards the coin market, to chair the Commission. Technically, this nomination also needs to be approved by the Senate, but this usually does not pose any problems.

According to Alison Mangiero, head of the Proof of Stake Alliance platform, “Atkins really understands the crypto space.” Given this, the new SEC will have “very different priorities than the SEC under Gensler.”


It is important to note that not only Gensler will resign in January, but also the Democratic commissioner Jaime Lizarraga. Accordingly, the regulator will be headed by at least three Republicans - Paul Atkins, Mark Uyeda and Hester Pierce. And since they belong to the same party, it will certainly be easier to agree on changes for the coin industry.


Here’s a comment on the matter from BakerHostetler law firm partner Teresa Goody Guillen, as cited by The Block .

The commission already has three members from the same political party. That means that after the Senate confirms Paul Atkins, Democrats are likely to count on him to quickly nominate someone from the other party. However, that decision will have to be weighed against the many other presidential appointments that are currently a priority.

Let us recall that no more than three SEC commissioners can be from the same party. Therefore, the remaining fourth representative of the Commission’s leadership will belong to a different political party.

However, this does not mean that we are talking specifically about Democrats. It could be a representative of the Libertarian Party, an independent candidate, or a member of any other party.

Below are three key changes for crypto that can be expected after the change in the Commission’s leadership.

Staking support at the core of ETFs

In January 2024, the SEC approved the launch of a spot Bitcoin ETF. Then, in July, ETH ETFs began trading.

However, in the case of the latter, the SEC opposed sending a portion of the ETF’s underlying coins to native staking of the network’s coins, which would have increased the yield of the investment instrument. In general, we are talking about allocating only a small portion of the coins for this purpose, which means the impact on the ETF’s yield would be insignificant. However, the Commission did not approve of this either.

According to Alison Mangiero, the new composition of the regulator could change this. Here is the response.

There are many obvious opportunities that this SEC could implement in the first months of operation, thus sending a good signal. In this regard, we are promoting the idea of ​​staking being part of such products.

New rules for regulating cryptocurrencies

During the election campaign, Donald Trump repeatedly spoke about his desire to ensure adequate regulation of the coin industry. The SEC is already reviewing projects that could affect the crypto industry.

One of them is the so-called “Regulation ATS”, i.e. regulation of alternative trading systems. According to it, the Commission may require decentralized exchanges to register with the agency.

If the current SEC does not approve the rule before Trump’s inauguration, then the new regulator will have to make a comprehensive decision on whether to deal with it, according to DeFi Education Fund CEO Miller Whitehouse-Levin.

I don’t think they will approve it in the same form as the current Commission would have approved it – and maybe they will abandon the initiative altogether. It all depends on priorities.

Ron Hammond of the Blockchain Association even admits that the SEC could start developing new rules within its purview while Congress is busy approving general rules of operation. However, there is no clarity here yet.

Current lawsuits of the Commission

An important issue in terms of the change in SEC leadership is the fate of current and new lawsuits involving representatives of the blockchain industry.

Goody Guillen believes that there will be significantly fewer such cases with cryptocurrency companies.

I expect there to be fewer non-fraud cases where there is no loss to investors. In addition, I think we will see fewer new and unusual cases, including those that seek to set a precedent.

The expert adds that the Commission may reject cases that do not involve unregistered securities. In such cases, the cases may be forwarded to the Ministry of Justice and other similar bodies.

Whitehouse-Levin added that he and his colleagues will be watching for changes in the industry and analyzing them carefully. At the same time, their expectations for the new SEC remain the same.


It is obvious that analysts' expectations of the SEC reshuffle are cautiously positive. However, the credit for this goes not only to Paul Atkins. First of all, the reputation of the Securities and Exchange Commission and its overall adequacy was destroyed by Gary Gensler. Therefore, any normal changes will clearly benefit the market.