What You Need to Know:
- The acting chairman of the U.S. SEC is working to remove a section regarding cryptocurrency from a proposed regulation on exchanges.
- Mark Uyeda has instructed his team to brainstorm options for cutting the crypto-related aspects of the rule, which has been in discussion for years.
One significant proposal by the SEC aimed to extend its authority over trading venues to include cryptocurrency businesses. However, Acting Chairman Mark Uyeda is now attempting to halt this initiative.
This rule has yet to be finalized at the SEC, and Uyeda’s latest direction suggests a vital shift in the agency’s approach to governance in the crypto sphere.
“In my view, it was a mistake for the commission to link together regulation of the Treasury markets with a heavy-handed attempt to tamp down the crypto market,” he stated in prepared remarks for the Institute of International Bankers. “Given the substantial negative public feedback regarding the definition of exchange concerning crypto, I have asked SEC staff for options on abandoning that part of the proposal.”
Read More: U.S. SEC Out-of-Bounds in Dragging DeFi Into Proposed Exchange Rule, Industry Says
Uyeda pointed out that the SEC’s intention to identify exchanges through “communications protocols” would inadvertently involve numerous protocols associated with crypto assets.
This rule was among multiple initiatives proposed during former chair Gary Gensler’s tenure, whose policies on crypto are scrutinized by the current team’s leadership under President Trump.
