Both the CFTC and SEC have new Acting Chairs, who are known to be crypto advocates, with Mark Uyeda being appointed Acting Chair of the SEC, taking over from Gary Gensler, while Caroline D. Pham has assumed the role of Acting Chair at the CFTC, succeeding Rostin Behnam. Mr. Uyeda will serve as Acting Chair until a decision is reached regarding the confirmation of Paul Atkins, who President Trump has nominated to be SEC Chair. On January 21, 2025, Acting Chair Uyeda also announced the formation of a new Crypto Task Force, charged with "developing a comprehensive and clear regulatory framework for crypto assets. Chair Pham has emerged as a prominent advocate for regulatory clarity in the US crypto industry. These appointments coincide with a significant policy shift regarding digital assets under President Trump
Acting Chair Pham announced this week that the agency would, in her words, "stop regulation by enforcement." These words will be welcome to many, including those in the crypto industry who have encountered or feared CFTC enforcement. Nevertheless, the industry should not see this announcement as a relaxation of the CFTC's general enforcement mandate. Rather, Acting Chair Pham pledged a more thoughtful approach to enforcement, which would "pursue fraudsters and other bad actors, and not punish good citizens." Her message aligns with the approach championed by SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce, the so-called "Crypto Mom" and leader of the Crypto Task Force. For more details, see our alert linked below.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) has continued to bring charges against actors in the digital asset space that commit criminal offenses, including most notably, the DOJ's recent charges against the digital asset platform KuCoin for operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business, which has resulted in KuCoin agreeing to exit the U.S. market for the next two years.
Akin Spotlight
Crypto Course Correction at the SEC
On February 4, 2025, SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce shared her first policy statement since being charged with leading the Commission's new Crypto Task Force.
It will come as no surprise that her statement is nothing less than a wholesale (and for many market participants, welcome) course correction on the Commission's crypto canon. In her own words:
"It took us a long time to get into this mess, and it is going to take us some time to get out of it ... the Commission's handling of crypto has been marked by legal imprecision and commercial impracticality ... many cases remain in litigation, many rules remain in the proposal stage, and many market participants remain in limbo ... Please be patient. The Task Force wants to get to a good place, but we need to do so in an orderly, practical, and legally defensible way."
Commissioner Peirce stressed that the fundamentals of US securities regulation will not change; individual participants will still be able to make their own investment decisions (even bad ones), and the SEC will still sanction "liars, cheaters, and scammers."
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Key Developments
Chairman Rostin Behnam Announces Departure from CFTC and Delivers Final Keynote Address
On January 7, 2025, Chairman Rostin Behnam announced that after seven years at the CFTC, he would step down from his position as Chairman on January 20, 2025, with his final day at the CFTC set for February 7, 2025.
On January 8, 2025, Chairman Behnam delivered his final official remarks in which he reiterated that, during his tenure, he believed the CFTC had "delivered an undeniable record of using regulation, innovation, and domestic and international collaboration to ensure our markets function well, serve risk management and transparency needs, and provide fertile ground for modernization and opportunity to pursue economic interests." With regard to digital assets, Chairman Benham noted that an early endeavor that dominated every season of his tenure was addressing the gap in regulation of the cash markets for crypto or digital asset commodities. He emphasized that he would continue to advocate for the CFTC to fill this gap if Congress so chooses. He added that, for the CFTC, "whose role is yet to be determined, the crypto era has highlighted the need for our ruleset to address the derivatives industry's current course."
The CFTC's press release can be found here, and the full text of the keynote address can be found here.
MF Publishes Report on Crypto Regulation in Kenya
On January 8, 2025, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) published a technical assistance report outlining the current state and future objectives for regulating crypto assets in the Republic of Kenya. The report, prepared at the request of Kenya's Capital Markets Authority, involved an analysis of crypto-asset activities and the related regulatory framework. The report emphasized "the need for a clear legislative framework with specific definitions and classifications of crypto assets, effective inter-agency cooperation, and continuous market monitoring." Furthermore, the report reiterated the importance of consumer protection through increased financial literacy and regulatory clarity and also recommended leveraging international best practices to enhance the effectiveness of Kenya's regulatory approach.
The technical assistance report can be found here
Arkansas Bill Seeks to Prohibit Crypto Mining Close to Military Bases
On January 15, 2025, Senate Bill (SB 60) was introduced by Senator Ricky Hill and House Speaker Brian Evans, seeking to amend the Arkansas Data Centers Act of 2023 to prohibit digital asset mining businesses from being located within a 30-mile radius of a military facility. According to the proposed amendments in the Bill, a "military facility" includes a military base or camp, hospital or clinic and arsenal. The Bill provides that digital mining businesses must not operate within a 30-mile radius of a military facility, shut down operations at each location that is within a 30-mile radius of a military facility unless the digital asset mining business was fully constructed and in operation at that site before December 31, 2024 and cease construction of a location that is within a 30-mile radius of a military facility. Furthermore, according to the Bill, a digital asset mining business that was in operation at a location within a 30-mile radius of a military facility before December 31, 2024, and subsequently changes ownership shall shut down operations at each location that is within 30-mile radius of a military facility before the change in ownership becomes effective. The Bill further proposes the inclusion of an emergency clause whereby the General Assembly of the State of Arkansas should declare that digital asset mining "is a rising industry in the state that poses unique opportunities as well as risks; that risks posed by digital asset mining include without limitation threats to national security and the security of the State of Arkansas, which is amplified by a digital asset mining facility's being located within a thirty-mile radius of a military facility; and that this act is immediately necessary in order to ensure the health and safety of the State of Arkansas and its citizens."
The full text of the Bill can be found here.
Crypto.com Receives In-Principle Approval of Markets in Crypto Assets License
On January 17, 2025, Crypto.com announced that it had become the first major global crypto-asset service provider to secure an in-principle Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) license. The MiCA license will permit Crypto.com to passport services across the European Union (EU) under the new regulatory framework.
Crypto.com's press release can be found here.
SEC Announces Record Enforcement Actions Brought in First Quarter of Fiscal Year 2025
On January 17, 2025, the SEC announced that, based on its preliminary results, it filed 200 total enforcement actions in the first quarter of fiscal year 2025, which ran from October through December 2024, including 118 standalone enforcement actions. The Division filed a total of 75 enforcement actions in October 2024 alone. According to the SEC's press release, the foregoing numbers represent the most actions filed in their respective periods since at least 2000. Furthermore, the SEC filed more than 40 enforcement actions from January 1, 2025 through January 17, 2025, indicating that the Division's high level of productivity continues into the second quarter of fiscal year 2025.
The SEC's press release can be found here
Caroline D. Pham Named Acting Chairman of CFTC and CFTC Leadership Changes Announced
On January 20, 2025, the CFTC announced the members of the Commission unanimously elected Commissioner Caroline D. Pham as Acting Chairman, effective January 20, 2025. She succeeds Rostin Behnam, who served as Chairman since January 4, 2022, and will remain a Commissioner until his departure on February 7, 2025.
Subsequently, on January 22, 2025, Acting Chairman Pham announced CFTC leadership changes, including Harry Jung as Acting Chief of Staff, Meghan Tente as Acting General Counsel, Brian Young as the Acting Director of the Division of Enforcement and Amanda Olear as the Acting Director of the Division of Market Oversight.
The CFTC's press release regarding the appointment of Acting Chairman Pham can be found here and the press release regarding CFTC leadership changes can be found here.
Mark T. Uyeda Named Acting Chairman of the SEC and Acting Senior Staff Named
On January 21, 2025, the SEC announced that President Trump has designated Mark T. Uyeda as Acting Chairman of the SEC. Acting Chairman Uyeda was first sworn into office as a Commissioner on June 30, 2022, after being confirmed by the U.S. Senate. Acting Chairman Uyeda stated that the "SEC has a vital mission—protecting investors, maintaining fair, orderly, and efficient markets, and facilitating capital formation—that plays a key role in promoting innovation, jobs creation, and the American Dream."
Subsequently, on January 24, 2025, the SEC announced Acting Chairman Mark T. Uyeda's selections for several senior roles in acting capacities across the SEC to fill vacancies created by recent departures. The SEC's senior staff selected by Acting Chairman Uyeda included Jeffrey Finnell as Acting General Counsel, Robert Fisher as Acting Director of the Division of Economic and Risk Analysis, Kathleen Hutchinson as Acting Director of the Office of International Affairs and Samuel Waldon, as Acting Director of the Division of Enforcement.
The SEC's press release regarding the appointment of Acting Chairman Uyeda can be found here and the press release regarding SEC leadership changes can be found here.
Acting SEC Chairman Uyeda Announces Establishment of New Crypto Task Force
On January 21, 2025, SEC Acting Chairman Mark T. Uyeda launched a crypto task force dedicated to developing a comprehensive and clear regulatory framework for crypto assets. According to the SEC's press release, Commissioner Hester Peirce will lead the task force and Richard Gabbert, Senior Advisor to the Acting Chairman, and Taylor Asher, Senior Policy Advisor to the Acting Chairman, will serve as the task force's Chief of Staff and Chief Policy Advisor, respectively.
The press release confirms that the task force will collaborate with SEC staff and the public to "set the SEC on a sensible regulatory path that respects the bounds of the law. To date, the SEC has relied primarily on enforcement actions to regulate crypto retroactively and reactively, often adopting novel and untested legal interpretations along the way. Clarity regarding who must register, and practical solutions for those seeking to register, have been elusive. The result has been confusion about what is legal, which creates an environment hostile to innovation and conducive to fraud. The SEC can do better." The SEC's press release confirms that the task force's focus will be to help the SEC draw "clear regulatory lines, provide realistic paths to registration, craft sensible disclosure frameworks, and deploy enforcement resources judiciously."
The SEC's press release can be found here.
U.S. Executive Order on Strengthening American Leadership in Digital Financial Technology
On January 23, 2025, President Trump signed an Executive Order on "Strengthening American Leadership in Digital Financial Technology" to establish regulatory clarity for digital financial technology and secure America's position as the world's leader in the digital asset economy, driving innovation and economic opportunity for all Americans. The Executive Order establishes the Presidential Working Group on Digital Asset Markets to strengthen U.S. leadership in digital finance. The Working Group will be tasked with developing a federal regulatory framework governing digital assets, including stablecoins, and evaluating the creation of a strategic national digital assets stockpile. The Working Group will be chaired by the White House AI & Crypto Czar and include the Secretary of the Treasury, the Chairman of the SEC and the heads of other relevant departments and agencies. The Executive Order directs departments and agencies with identifying and making recommendations to the Working Group on any regulations and other agency actions affecting the digital assets sector that should be rescinded or modified. The Executive Order prohibits agencies from undertaking any action to establish, issue or promote central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). According to the White House's fact sheet, President Trump is fulfilling his promise to make the United States the "crypto capital of the planet."
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