Ex-SEC acting chair: Agency dropped crypto cases to avoid issues with credibility

SEC Commissioner Mark Uyeda revealed that the agency dropped numerous civil cases against cryptocurrency firms in early 2025 to prevent potential credibility issues in court. Uyeda, who served as acting chair of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) prior to Paul Atkins’s confirmation, explained that the SEC was preparing a significant shift in rulemaking when it dismissed the cases against crypto companies.

At a panel discussion at the Psaros Center for Financial Markets and Policy’s Financial Markets Quality Conference, Uyeda stated that the agency avoided "180-degree change" in its policy positions to maintain its credibility in legal arguments. He emphasized that there were "significant concerns" that the cases against crypto companies were "justifiable under law."

Uyeda argued that having litigators argue positions that were a sharp contrast to the commission's upcoming policy changes would not only hurt the SEC's credibility but also undermine its role as a regulatory body. The SEC dropped cases against firms such as Kraken, Ripple Labs, and Coinbase, which many critics believed was retaliation for the industry's support of former President Donald Trump during his 2024 campaign.

Trump had pledged to fire former SEC Chair Gary Gensler, under whom most of the cases were initiated, upon taking office. Gensler resigned the day Trump assumed presidency. Uyeda has been a commissioner at the SEC since 2022 and is currently part of the agency's leadership alongside Atkins and Commissioner Hester Peirce. With Peirce's exit anticipated in November, the SEC will be led by only two of its five members, and Trump has not announced any nominees to fill the vacated positions.