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Business|S.E.C. Moves to Scale Back Its Crypto Enforcement Efforts
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/04/business/sec-crypto-task-force.html
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Some in a special unit of 50 lawyers and staff members that had been assigned to regulate cryptocurrency are being reassigned in the agency.
- Feb. 4, 2025, 5:42 p.m. ET
The Securities and Exchange Commission is moving to scale back a special unit of more than 50 lawyers and staff members that had been dedicated to bringing crypto enforcement actions, five people with knowledge of the matter said.
The move is one of the first concrete steps by President Trump and his administration to pull back on the regulation of cryptocurrencies and other digital assets. One of Mr. Trump’s first executive orders was aimed at promoting the growth of crypto and “eliminating regulatory overreach” on digital assets.
Some of the lawyers in the crypto unit are being assigned to other departments in the S.E.C., the people said. One of the unit’s top lawyers was moved out of the enforcement division. Some of the people briefed on the shake-up described that move as an unfair demotion.
A spokesperson for the S.E.C. declined to comment.
Mr. Trump, once a cryptocurrency critic, embraced digital assets during the 2024 presidential campaign and welcomed the support of the crypto community, which had come to see the S.E.C.’s previous chair, Gary Gensler, as its No. 1 nemesis.
The acting chair of the commission, Mark T. Uyeda, is a Republican who has tended to be supportive of the crypto industry. He has made a slew of appointments while shaking up other top jobs at the S.E.C., which employs more than 1,000 lawyers.
One of the first things Mr. Uyeda did was set up a team to review the S.E.C.’s approach to dealing with digital assets. The task force is led by Hester Peirce, an S.E.C. commissioner and an outspoken crypto supporter.
