The SEC’s acting chairperson, Mark Uyeda, plans to revoke a controversial regulatory crypto policy rule, which may affect the industry in a new way.
According to recent reports, Uyeda plans to abandon a rule made in 2022 that would classify certain cryptocurrency protocols as Alternative Trading Systems (ATSs).
Removing the regulation would mean crypto firms would not need to register with the SEC as trading systems, which would place further restrictions on operations.
Gensler-era ATS policy to be dismissed by acting chairman Mark Uyeda
The regulation was first proposed by Jay Clayton, chairman until late 2020, and proposed placing the regulation on Government Securities ATSs.
In 2022, Gary Gensler believed cryptocurrency protocols and various exchanges must abide by traditional market infrastructures, dragging digital asset firms under existing frameworks.
For Uyeda, Genserl’s proposal would have been the wrong move. On March 10 at the Institute of International Bankers’ Washington Conference, Mark Uyeda announced that the policy would be criticized and soon revoked.
From SEC acting chair Mark Uyeda via Reuters:
“The new definition of the term ‘exchange’ included ‘communications protocols’ without clearly defining what that term meant.
… it was a mistake for the Commission to link together regulation of the Treasury markets with a heavy-handed attempt to tamp down the crypto market.”
According to Uyeda, he requested that the SEC dismiss the proposal and that applying the ATS proposal was a form of regulatory overreach.
Afterwards, Uyeda asked staff at the SEC to consider renewing discussions with the Federal Reserve, the Treasury Department, to look at the plans and how they could be applied to the government’s alternative trading systems.
Is the SEC pro-crypto?
The SEC has turned a new leaf on cryptocurrency regulations in recent months. Hester Pierce, the head of the Crypto Task Force, also criticized the ATS regulation being applied to crypto industries.
In recent weeks, the SEC has dismissed dozens of investigations against key crypto industry leaders including Coinbase, Kraken, and Gemini exchange.
Crypto policy and regulation is moving towards a new era with Trump’s Bitcoin stockpile going ahead with an official executive order being signed before hosting a crypto summit with exchange CEOs in attendance.
The SEC’s seemingly unanimous decision to overrule a Gensler-era regulation against crypto signals that the industry is definitely heading towards a more open, inclusionary period.
