One Year After Gensler’s exit, SEC’s Crypto Playbook Looks Very Different

One year ago Tuesday, Gary Gensler resigned as chair of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) amid the inauguration of President Donald Trump. 

Many in the crypto industry had heavily criticized the former SEC chair for his approach to digital asset regulation and enforcement. Gensler’s position on cryptocurrencies likely contributed to companies like Ripple Labs funding political action committees (PACs) and backing many candidates in the 2024 US elections who had expressed views favorable to the industry and opposing those who didn’t.

Shortly after Gensler’s resignation, Trump appointed SEC Commissioner Mark Uyeda as acting chair of the agency. What followed was a complete about-face of SEC policy on digital assets under Gensler, with the dismissal of many yearslong investigations and enforcement actions and the restructuring of the agency’s leadership to include only Republicans.  

Dismissing crypto investigations and lawsuits

In February, just over a month after Uyeda assumed control of the SEC under Trump, the agency announced that it would drop a civil enforcement action against Coinbase, initially filed in 2023. The case would be the first of many the SEC would drop against crypto companies, some of which like Coinbase that had contributed to PACs that supported pro-crypto candidates. 

Following the Coinbase case, the SEC ended investigations into Robinhood Crypto and Uniswap Labs. One of the agency’s most significant policy changes, however, occurred in March when Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said the SEC would drop its appeal stemming from a 2020 enforcement action against the payments company.  

Related: SEC crypto cases will be ‘dismissed or settled’ under Trump: Consensys CEO

More dismissals followed in the months under Uyeda and after Trump’s pick to chair the agency, Paul Atkins, was confirmed by the Senate in April. Many lawmakers questioned whether the agency had dropped the actions as a result of Trump’s close ties to the crypto industry. 

The president and his family have backed the crypto company World Liberty Financial, which launched its own stablecoin amid consideration of crypto legislation in the US Congress. Trump also has his own memecoin, Official Trump (TRUMP), and his sons launched American Bitcoin, a crypto mining venture.

Some estimates suggested that the president and his family had profited by more than $1 billion from their crypto businesses as of June 2025.

SEC holds crypto roundtables, awaits regulation clarity

In 2025, the SEC held a series of crypto roundtables bringing together industry, legal and policy experts. The discussions covered topics including financial privacy, digital asset custody, tokenization and decentralized finance, as the agency sought input on how securities laws should apply to the sector.

However, many of the points SEC officials discusses could be moot amid members of the US Congress working to pass a comprehensive crypto structure bill. The bill, called the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act, is intended to establish clear guidelines under which financial regulators including the SEC will operate.

The bill passed the House of Representatives in July, but has been delayed in the Senate and awaits passage in the banking and agriculture committees. Although members of the Banking Committee had been scheduled to consider a markup on the bill on Thursday, the event was delayed after Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong pulled his support for the legislation.

All Democratic commissioners depart the SEC

Gensler and former SEC Commissioner Jaime Lizárraga were among the first to leave the agency in January 2025 amid Trump’s inauguration, leaving Caroline Crenshaw as the body’s sole Democratic commissioner.

For months, Crenshaw remained the only Democratic representation in the SEC’s leadership and its only crypto skeptic. She left the agency in January 2026 after serving 18 months beyond the official end of her term. At the time of publication, Trump had not announced any plans to nominate additional commissioners to maintain its bipartisan balance.

After leaving public office, Gensler returned to the MIT Sloan School of Management, where he is a professor of finance and practice of global economics and management. He continues to speak publicly and give interviews about cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (BTC) being “speculative” assets.  

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