Crypto Regulation: Industry Experts React To US SEC Policy Shift

In the wake of Donald Trump’s inauguration as the President of the United States, crypto regulation in the region has taken a new turn.

More notable is the change that has taken place within the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Mark Uyeda was appointed interim chair of the commission and brought some remarkable policy changes to the agency quickly.

Hester Peirce Statement on Enforcement Shifts

Under Gary Gensler’s administration, the SEC wielded a regulation-by-enforcement approach to set crypto firms on the supposed right path.

Digital asset services providers like Coinbase, Binance, and Kraken suffered severely from this approach.

While the crypto sector understood the need for regulation, the SEC’s strategy was intensely frowned upon.

Hester Peirce, an American lawyer and Commissioner with the SEC categorized shared a statement on the regulators’ new direction.

In her words, enforcement is an important tool for the SEC but also noted that it is not the right tool for crafting policy.

She made this statement while sharing her view on the dismissal of Coinbase’s case with the agency.

At first, Peirce acknowledged that the SEC settled its case against Coinbase by dismissing it with prejudice.

Furthermore, she talked about how the regulation-by-enforcement initiative has stifled growth and innovation in the US.

“The lack of clarity creates an added layer of uncertainty for startups and ultimately may drive these innovators and entrepreneurs to other economic sectors or jurisdictions with clearer regulatory lines,” Peirce wrote.

She noted the regulator has to adopt a more collaborative approach to achieving a balanced market.

Michael Saylor and Other Leaders’ Reactions

The obvious shift within the SEC with Gary Gensler out of the way has gotten several key industry players talking.

Jorge Tenreiro, the agency’s Chief Litigation Counsel who played a significant part in the lawsuits that involved several top cryptocurrency exchanges, was reassigned to the commission’s IT department as part of the realignment of the US crypto regulatory space.

It is worth noting the new administration’s efforts to change the crypto regulation trends in the US are reflected daily.

Strategy’s founder, Michael Saylor, stated that the crypto market is pivoting to a new era of constructive engagement between financial regulators and industry innovators.

This is a development that crypto leaders will welcome with open hands.

Saylor believes that such shìft in policy is essential to position the US as the world leader in the emerging digital economy.

Hope for the Future

Americans with crypto holdings are quite optimistic about the future of their assets and the general digital asset industry.

They have Donald Trump’s pro-crypto administration to thank for this renewed hope.

In less than 40 days in office, Trump has caused a shakeup in the crypto space, which is evident in the number of litigations the SEC has dismissed these past few days.

Apart from dismissing Coinbase’s case with the SEC, Consensys, Robinhood, and Uniswap have also seen their litigations dismissed.

The change of stance towards Consensys’ Metamask staking case was expected. This came after the Commission stated that it is “very, very interested” in staking.

The expectation is that this policy shift will extend to crypto Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs).

Several asset managers, including Grayscale, have filed for ETFs that will track the prices of SOL, XRP, DOT, DOGE, and LTC. They hope that the SEC can approve the applications soon with its new pro-crypto stance..