Trump names crypto-friendly SEC Commissioner Mark Uyeda as acting chair as Gensler departs

President Donald Trump has picked Mark Uyeda, one of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's top officials, to lead the agency until a permanent chair is confirmed. 

Hours after his inauguration, Trump tapped the Republican SEC commissioner to chair the agency in the interim until a permanent chair is put in place. Mark T. Uyeda has has been critical of the SEC's crypto approach under former Chair Gary Gensler, calling its enforcement "poorly conceived crypto policy" and called for more clarity in how crypto is regulated.

"The environment we have created for the crypto asset markets, especially as it relates to secondary trading, is untenable," Uyeda and fellow Republican SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce said in a speech in March. 

The SEC is set to have a regulatory shift for crypto following Gensler's exit and as it forges on with a Republican majority. Both Peirce and Uyeda are weighing whether to start a process that could lead to more clarity on how the SEC views crypto and could decide to review pending enforcement cases, which could all begin very soon, Reuters reported last week.

Uyeda previously served as securities counsel to former Rep. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) on the Senate Banking Committee and also was counsel to former SEC Commissioners Michael Piwowar and Paul Atkins. Atkins, who has been friendly toward crypto, was also officially announced to lead the SEC with a term ending on June 5, 2026. Trump tapped Atkins back in December. Atkins would still need to be confirmed by the Senate. 

Trump also designated Travis Hill to become acting chair of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, according to Monday's announcement. Hill, vice chair of the agency , said earlier this month that the FDIC should be clearer in how banks work with crypto following criticism that the government is shutting out the industry.