Days before Paul Atkins officially assumes the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission chair position, Acting Chair Mark Uyeda has taken a firm stance on crypto regulation. Speaking at the Crypto Task Force Roundtable on March 21 in Washington, D.C., Uyeda criticized the lack of a well-defined regulatory framework for the industry and called for new rulemaking under the Trump administration.
Crypto’s Ongoing Regulatory Uncertainty
During his speech, Uyeda referenced the landmark v. W.J. Howey Co. (1946) case, highlighting the ongoing struggle between the Biden-era and the crypto industry over whether digital assets should be classified as threat.
“Seventeen years since Satoshi Nakamoto made the Bitcoin whitepaper, market participants, lawyers, academics, policymakers, and regulators are still grappling with critical questions related to the status of these novel crypto assets under the federal securities laws. This disagreement is most pronounced when it comes to application of the investment contract test established by the Supreme Court in its 1946 opinion in Securities and Exchange Commission v. W.J. Howey Co. (known as the ‘Howey test’) to crypto assets.” — Mark Uyeda
A Shift from Enforcement to Clear Rulemaking
Uyeda also pointed to the numerous lawsuits against major crypto firms like Binance’s CZ, Ripple, and others—cases pursued aggressively under former Chair Gary Gensler during the Biden administration. He argued that instead of punishing the industry, infrastructure should work toward building new, transparent regulations to guide the crypto community.
A Call for a Formal Rulemaking Process
In discussions with regulators, legal experts, and market participants, Uyeda stressed the need for the Commission to adopt a formal rulemaking process rather than relying on enforcement actions to define the status of crypto assets.
“This approach of using notice-and-comment rulemaking or explaining the Commission’s thought process through releases—rather than through enforcement actions—should have been considered for classifying crypto assets under the federal securities laws.” — Mark Uyeda
With Uyeda pushing for clear and structured crypto rules, the industry now awaits how Paul Atkins’ leadership will shape the future of digital asset regulation in the U.S.
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