Regulation 2 min, 6 sec READ

by Mike Dalton

Trump’s choice of leadership for the SEC and other agencies could reshape the U.S. crypto landscape over the next four years.

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump will likely appoint policy leaders who are friendly to the crypto sector, The Washington Post reported on Nov. 11.

Trump's team is initially considering leaders for financial regulatory agencies, including a chair for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The team has reportedly considered former SEC official and current Robinhood legal executive Daniel Gallagher for the role. It has also considered Republican SEC commissioners Hester Peirce and Mark Uyeda, former SEC commissioner Paul Atkins, and former CFTC commissioner Chris Giancarlo.

Trump will meet with Brian Armstrong, CEO of the crypto exchange Coinbase, to discuss personnel appointments, according to a separate Wall Street Journal report on Nov. 18. The Wall Street Journal noted that Armstrong favors Hester Peirce as the next chair of the SEC, as expressed in a Nov. 8 post.

Reuters, however, said on Nov. 8 that Peirce does not want to serve as SEC chair. It described Gallagher as the "front-runner" at the time.

Gary Gensler has chaired the SEC throughout most of the Biden administration. Critics argue that Gensler has taken a critical stance and aggressive enforcement strategy against crypto companies. Although Trump has promised to remove Gensler as soon as he takes office, Fortune has stated that an instant removal is legally impossible and has pointed to the standard appointment process.

Other Personnel Developments

Trump has selected a number of known crypto advocates for other positions that may have a less direct impact on crypto policy. Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick, a Bitcoin and Tether advocate, will act as secretary of commerce. Notably, Cantor Fitzgerald has served as a custodian for Tether since 2021.

Additionally, Trump has chosen pro-crypto entrepreneurs Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to lead a new presidential advisory commission titled the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). The commission's abbrevation is the same as the ticker for Dogecoin (DOGE), a memecoin that Musk has frequently promoted.

The Washington Post noted that Trump’s personnel decisions are “critical,” as they could give the SEC and other U.S. agencies the ability to make cryptocurrency a more significant part of the financial ecosystem.

Trump's decision could support his goal of turning the U.S. into a crypto capital but also has “vast implications for the global economy,” it said. It noted the risk of “catastrophic contagion” in the event of a collapse similar to FTX's in 2022.