SEC Cryptocurrency Trading Roundtable Explores Possibility of Easier Rules for Platforms

Acting SEC Chairman Mark Uyeda has hinted at interest in making a quick decision on cryptocurrency regulation as the agency mulls permanent regulations.

Jesse Hamilton | Edited by Nikhilesh De on April 11, 2025, 6:16 PM

What you should know:

• The US Securities and Exchange Commission held another meeting in a series of roundtables devoted to the rules of cryptocurrency trading.
• Acting Chairman Mark Uyeda has proposed temporarily reducing oversight of cryptocurrency trading while the agency works on future rules.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is considering implementing a temporary oversight structure for cryptocurrencies that would allow companies to continue innovating while the agency develops more robust regulations for digital assets, Acting Chairman Mark Uyeda said at an event at the agency's Washington headquarters.

“We need to consider whether it is possible to create a more effective regulatory framework within a supportive federal regulatory environment,” Uyeda said in a recorded statement delivered at the agency’s latest crypto industry roundtable. “While the Commission works to develop a long-term solution to these issues, a temporary, conditionally exempt structure for registered and unregistered participants could facilitate more blockchain innovation in the United States in the short term.”

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The securities regulator is waiting for Congress to pass the Cryptocurrency Markets Act, which would allow it to begin drafting the rules needed for the digital asset sector. That could happen as early as the end of the year, according to lawmakers working on the issue, but it will be months before it passes, and it will take the SEC and other federal agencies even longer to write and implement the rules.

During this second in a series of cryptocurrency roundtables the agency is holding as it reassesses its stance on digital assets, Uyeda remains at the helm of the agency, though new Chairman Paul Atkins is poised to take over. Even with his appointment, however, Uyeda and fellow Republican Commissioner Hester Peirce, a cryptocurrency advocate, will remain in place.

Republican commissioners noted crypto platforms' interest in combining both traditionally SEC-regulated activities and business outside the agency's purview under one roof.

“What can and should we do in the short term, and what should Congress consider in the long term, to address regulatory gaps as companies increasingly seek to combine securities and non-securities trading?” asked Peirce, who chairs the SEC’s cryptocurrency task force.

The SEC's lone Democratic commissioner, Caroline Crenshaw, says some recent market turmoil and company collapses have made industry watchers “acutely aware of the disconnect between investor expectations and reality.”

“Cryptocurrency trading platforms are unique in that they often offer multiple services under one roof, sometimes including clearing and custody,” Crenshaw explained. In traditional finance, such functions are “typically performed by separate, registered entities” because they come with “high risks of conflicts of interest and threats to investors.”

Read more: Securities and Exchange Commission

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