- Published on
Ex-SEC acting chair: Agency dropped crypto cases to avoid issues with credibility
- Authors
- Name
- DeepHorus
Mark Uyeda, the former acting chair of the US Securities and Exchange Commission, said the agency dropped several cryptocurrency cases in early 2025 because continuing them could have damaged its credibility in court. Speaking Wednesday at the Psaros Center for Financial Markets and Policy’s Financial Markets Quality Conference, he described the withdrawals as preparation for a “180-degree change” in the SEC’s policy direction. Uyeda said he did not want SEC lawyers to argue positions that conflicted with the rules the agency was preparing to adopt.
Uyeda served as acting SEC chair from January to April 2025, before Paul Atkins’s confirmation, and has been a commissioner since joining the agency in 2022. The cases originated under former Chair Gary Gensler, whose tenure saw an expansion of crypto enforcement. Gensler resigned shortly after President Donald Trump took office in 2025, following Trump’s campaign pledge to fire him on “day one.” The leadership transition put the SEC’s digital-asset strategy under review.
At the panel, Uyeda said there had been “significant concerns” about whether some pending cases against crypto companies were “justifiable under law.” He worried that attorneys authorized to bring cases under the prior administration could be left defending a position that the commission was preparing to reverse. “I’m not about to have our litigators … stand up in court and have a commission interpretation be issued that is a 180-degree change from what they’d been arguing for that court,” he said.
The withdrawals during Uyeda’s leadership included cases against Kraken, Ripple Labs, Coinbase, and other cryptocurrency businesses. Ending those proceedings removed major sources of legal uncertainty for the companies, though it did not resolve every question about the application of securities law to digital assets. The moves also formed part of a broader reassessment of the SEC’s approach to crypto regulation.
Uyeda’s explanation comes amid a political dispute over the agency’s retreat. The cryptocurrency industry supported Trump’s 2024 campaign, and critics characterized the decision to drop cases against prominent industry companies as payback for that support. Trump had promised to remove Gensler on his first day in office, while Gensler resigned immediately after Trump’s inauguration. In his conference remarks, however, Uyeda emphasized legal consistency and institutional credibility rather than a political bargain with the industry.
Critics may still see the case withdrawals as evidence that the SEC weakened enforcement to benefit favored companies. Supporters can instead argue that continuing litigation while moving toward different rules would undermine the agency’s authority and credibility. The disagreement therefore turns on whether abandoning previously authorized cases was a principled correction or an excessively broad retreat from oversight.
The coming rulemaking process will test whether the policy change Uyeda described produces durable regulatory standards. The SEC must explain how its revised interpretation of securities law fits the arguments it has made in existing and future litigation, a concern central to his decision to drop selected cases. The commission’s leadership will also remain unsettled: with Hester Peirce’s departure expected in November, the SEC could have only two of its five members in place unless Trump nominates replacements. The agency’s next phase will be defined not only by new crypto rules, but also by whether courts and market participants view its enforcement shift as credible.
