Former SEC Acting Chairman Explains Why Agency Abandoned Cryptocurrency Enforcement Actions
Mark Uyeda, SEC Commissioner, revealed the agency withdrew numerous enforcement actions targeting cryptocurrency firms in early 2025, citing concerns about undermining the commission's credibility before courts.
According to Mark Uyeda, who held the position of acting chair at the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) prior to Paul Atkins's Senate confirmation, the regulatory body withdrew civil enforcement proceedings against digital currency firms that had been initiated during the prior administration due to the agency's preparation for a complete reversal in its regulatory approach.
During a panel discussion on Wednesday at the Financial Markets Quality Conference hosted by the Psaros Center for Financial Markets and Policy, Uyeda explained the SEC's decision to withdraw enforcement proceedings involving digital asset companies in the opening months of 2025, noting that maintaining these cases would have potentially damaged the commission's credibility when presenting arguments before courts that would contradict its forthcoming policy shifts. According to Uyeda, there were "significant concerns" regarding whether the enforcement actions targeting cryptocurrency firms were "justifiable under law."
"I'm not about to have our litigators, even though they're having cases that were authorized under the prior administration, stand up in court and have a commission interpretation be issued that is a 180-degree change from what they'd been arguing for that court. I think that hurts [our] credibility as an agency."
SEC Commissioner Mark Uyeda
During Uyeda's tenure as acting SEC chair, which spanned from January through April 2025, the commission withdrew enforcement proceedings that had been initiated against Kraken, Ripple Labs, Coinbase and additional firms in actions that numerous critics described as retaliation for the cryptocurrency sector's backing of President Donald Trump's 2024 electoral campaign. Trump had made a campaign pledge to terminate former SEC Chair Gary Gensler, during whose leadership the majority of these enforcement actions were initiated, "on day one" upon his election. Gensler submitted his resignation on the same day Trump assumed office.
Uyeda's appointment as a commissioner at the SEC began in 2022 and he presently serves in the agency's leadership structure together with Atkins and Commissioner Hester Peirce. With Peirce's anticipated departure scheduled for November, the commission will be left with merely two of its five members serving on its leadership panel, and Trump has yet to publicly announce any nominations for potential candidates to fill the vacancies.