Goodbye Gary Gensler, Donald Trump Lantik Mark Uyeda Becomes Temporary SEC Chair

Goodbye Gary Gensler, Donald Trump appointed Mark Uyeda as chairman of the SEC while (Photo; Doc. Bitrue)

JAKARTA - After being sworn in as the 47th President of the United States, Donald Trump immediately appointed a replacement for Gary Gensler. Trump appointed Mark Uyeda as interim chairman of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The appointment took place on January 20, 2025, marking a new era for the digital asset industry under a more pro-crypto leadership.

However, Mark Uyeda will serve as interim chairman until the US Senate approves a permanent replacement. Previously, Uyeda was known as legal adviser to former Senate members Pat Toomey on the Senate Banking Committee and has also worked with former SEC Commissioner Michael Piwowar and Paul Atkins.

Uyeda's appointment is expected to bring about positive changes, especially after his criticism of Gensler's policy of being too strict on the crypto market.

Earlier, in a joint speech with Commissioner Hester Peirce in March, Uyeda called the crypto asset trading environment, particularly in secondary trade, unavoidable. He also opposed law enforcement actions aimed at crypto companies that did not commit fraud.

In addition, Trump also made leadership adjustments to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) by appointing Caroline Pham as interim chairman. Pham is known as a supporter of clearer regulations for the digital asset sector and is often involved in law enforcement actions against blockchain platforms such as Uniswap. He argues that crypto utility tokens should not be classified as securities.

The leadership change also took place at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), where Travis Hill was appointed interim chairman after Marty Gruenberg's resignation. The FDIC has been involved in a controversy over the Operation Choke Point 2.0, on charges that it is destroying digital asset records to cut ties to the crypto sector with banking services.

Although there is speculation about the possibility of Trump signing an executive order regarding digital assets, until now there has been no official announcement. In his first statement after being sworn in, Trump did not touch the topic of crypto or blockchain technology. On the other hand, the change in leadership from Biden to Trump shows a positive signal for the crypto industry in the United States.