President Donald Trump, pumper of several memecoins and perpetual rug puller, has tasked the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission with “developing a comprehensive and clear regulatory framework for crypto assets” – probably a very formal way of saying “lower crypto guardrails.” Acting President Mark T. Uyeda is set up a working group will be led by SEC Commissioner and longtime crypto friend Hester Peirce, in a move that will likely lead to a giveaway to the industry that strongly supported Trump during the 2024 presidential election.
The SEC’s statement regarding the commission doesn’t really give any insight into what it will seek to do, other than “provide clarity” on the rules governing the crypto industry. He will probably achieve this by removing these rules altogether, abandoning what Uyeda refers referred to as “new and untested legal interpretations” that were used to regulate space under the previous administration.
During Biden’s term, the Gary Gensler-led SEC managed to make many enemies among crypto true believers by insisting that so-called digital currencies be regulated as securities. Gensler has also led significant enforcement efforts against big players in the crypto industry, including take on Coinbase for failing to register as a securities exchange and charging Cumberland Trading Platform operating as an unregistered dealer. He also directed crypto startup surveys and their operations. Basically, he was trying to enforce the law.
You can expect less of that under the direction of Hester Peirce. She was nicknamed “Crypto Mom» by industry members thanks to his regular dissents against Gensler’s actions. She opposed the SEC’s enforcement approach during Gensler’s reign and supported things like Crypto ETFswhat virtually all financial planning experts advise investors to do stay away from. (Of course, it didn’t stop multiple states to bet part of their state employee pension fund on volatile assets, something that surely won’t come back to bite them.)
As Trump loosens the leash on the crypto industry, those close to him are already reaping the rewards. He launched his own memecoin, $ASSETthen went on to promote his wife’s memecoin, $MELANIE. Both coins have already seen significant ups and downs in the days since their launch, but they have almost certainly brought in some profits. great gains for insiders who found some assholes to hold the bag for them.
This, combined with the new SEC task force, will likely be seen as a signal to crypto-capitalists that their Ponzi schemes are now legal.