U.S SEC Chairman will resign on Trump’s inauguration day

Gary Gensler, the chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission and a longtime opponent of the cryptocurrency sector, announced that he will step down on the day Donald Trump takes office in January. He will leave his position as commissioner, so he won’t be around to defend his regulatory policies, which include a tough stance against the crypto industry.

Gensler described the watchdog as “a remarkable agency” in a statement. The Commission’s and its employees’ core missions are to safeguard investors, promote capital formation, and make sure that the markets benefit both issuers and investors.

“True public servants make up the staff,” he stated. Serving alongside them on behalf of regular Americans to ensure that our capital markets remain the greatest in the world has been the honor of a lifetime’. The statement continued by expressing gratitude to Gensler’s fellow commissioners and President Joe Biden. Gensler oversaw several enforcement actions that impacted the cryptocurrency sector after taking office in April 2021.

The regulator broadened its enforcement actions from targeting crypto issuers, as it did under former SEC Chair Jay Clayton, who served under Trump, to bringing lawsuits against crypto trading platforms, despite industry participants’ hopes that he would take a more lenient stance toward the cryptocurrency space.

The SEC filed a lawsuit against Binance.US, Coinbase, Kraken, and others while Gensler was in charge, claiming the exchanges were unregistered clearinghouses and securities brokers.

He also oversaw the first approval of spot bitcoin and ether exchange-traded products, although was earlier against them at first, but after the agency lost a court case, he was forced to vote with the two Republicans on the five-member commission to approve the ETFs.

Trump hasn’t named Gensler’s successor yet.  However, several people have been floated, such as Teresa Goody Guillén, a former SEC lawyer, currently in private practice, and Brian Brooks, a former Acting Comptroller of the Currency who also briefly oversaw Binance. US — as well as several others.

The commission will consist of two members from each party in Gensler’s absence, preventing a three-member Republican block until the Senate confirms Trump’s subsequent appointment. Major policy changes or enforcement decisions might have to wait until the GOP has a majority on the commission.