SEC Dials Down Crypto Oversight, Reassigns Agency Lawyers: Report

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is cutting back its specialized crypto enforcement unit, reassigning more than 50 lawyers and staff members focused on regulating digital assets as a changing landscape under President Donald Trump takes root.

Several members of the crypto unit have been shifted to different departments within the agency, according to a Tuesday report by The New York Times, which cited several anonymous sources.

At least one senior lawyer was removed from the enforcement division altogether—a move some insiders described as an “unfair demotion,” per the report.

The crypto unit overhaul is part of the Trump administration’s efforts to curtail government intervention in digital assets. Trump has vowed to curb regulatory oversight in the crypto sector since his Presidential campaign and make the U.S. a global leader in digital assets.

While the SEC has not yet responded to requests for comments from Decrypt on the restructuring, Commissioner Hester Peirce, who now leads the agency’s newly formed crypto task force, has signaled a significant shift in the agency’s priorities.

Peirce, a longtime advocate for clearer crypto guidelines, blasted the SEC’s past regulatory approach in a statement Tuesday, calling it “marked by legal imprecision and commercial impracticality.”

Known affectionately by those within the industry as “Crypto Mom,” Peirce likened the agency’s past treatment of digital assets to “a car careening down the road” and vowed to introduce a more balanced framework.

The staff reassignment also raises questions about ongoing SEC lawsuits against major crypto firms, including crypto giant Coinbase. The SEC sued the exchange in 2023, alleging it operated as an unregistered securities platform.

That case became a litmus test for former Chair Gary Gensler’s assertion that most cryptos should be classified as securities.

During Gensler’s tenure, multiple industry leaders shot back, accusing the SEC of attempting to “unlawfully kill” the crypto industry while refusing to provide clear regulatory guidelines.

The SEC’s overhaul is just one piece of the Trump administration’s broader effort to rewrite the rulebook on crypto. 

Last month, the agency scrapped Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 121 (SAB121), a controversial policy that forced firms to treat customer-held crypto as a liability. 

Critics, including Peirce, said the rule unfairly burdened banks and kept them from embracing digital assets.

In one of his first executive orders, the President established a presidential working group on crypto policy and outright banned the creation of a central bank digital currency (CBDC)—a clear rejection of a government-issued “digital dollar.”

Edited by Sebastian Sinclair