The year is 2024; Bitcoin is setting new all-time highs, and Trump’s crypto-friendly administration has not even resumed office yet. Gary Gensler, who suffocated crypto firms like Binance and besieged tokens like XRP, has shared his plans to step down.
Throughout its tenure, Gensler’s SEC faced criticism for stifling innovation, not providing clear regulatory frameworks, and regulating by enforcement. And in Gensler fashion, he announced that he would step down on the same day the former president returned to office.
The markets reacted positively to Gensler’s resignation from SEC leadership, especially tokens like XRP, which have been hit with different waves of SEC regulatory pressure.
Ripple (XRP) became premier target of Gensler’s regulation campaign
The SEC’s case against Ripple is one of the most contentious legal battles that marked Gensler’s time in the SEC. The agency alleged that Ripple raised $1.3 billion via the unregistered sale of XRP, which it considered a security.
Ripple fought back, and in July 2023, a court awarded Ripple partial victory when it ruled that XRP is not a security when sold on exchanges but may be in institutional sales. The case is still ongoing, with a pretrial conference scheduled for December 19, 2024, and jury selection set for January 21, 2025.
Nothing is certain yet, but the XRP token has responded very positively to current market conditions. It has surged past the $1 mark after being stuck at sub-zero ranges for a long time. It is now the 6th most valuable token on CoinMarketCap with a market cap of $83.13b.
Every small Ripple victory was heralded as a big for the crypto industry. Now, Ripple can focus on its 2025 vision to “position itself as a leading digital asset provider for financial institutions globally.”
Coinbase and other SEC survivors
The SEC targeted Coinbase with a lawsuit in June 2023. It accused the exchange of operating an unregistered securities exchange and offering certain tokens considered securities including Solana (SOL), Cardano (ADA), and Polygon (MATIC).
The Securities and Exchange Commission landed a major win in its lawsuit against Coinbase in March of this year when a judge ruled that the SEC’s claim that the cryptocurrency exchange participated in unregistered sales of securities could be heard by a jury at trial.
The case continues to drag on as Coinbase maintains that it complied with laws while calling for more concise crypto regulations.
Coinbase may finally be able to put this lawsuit behind it and focus on reclaiming its dominance in the North American market.
Another exchange that went through the SEC wringer was Binance and its CEO, Changpeng Zhao. CZ was investigated on allegations of mishandling customer funds, misleading investors, and operating unregistered securities exchanges.
CZ went to jail, Binance will wind down its BUSD stablecoin by the end of the year, and the exchange has a lot of catching up to do in the United States.
Both Binance and the SEC have a rare opportunity to start over under new administrations.
The SEC was also reportedly looking into the Ethereum Foundation’s involvement in Ethereum staking and token sales as it considers whether ETH should be classified as a security. Under new leadership, this line of action may be discontinued but only time will tell.
Robinhood was served a Wells Notice earlier this year for listing tokens like Solana (SOL), which the SEC considers securities.
Fast forward to the end of November, and Robinhood’s chief legal officer Dan Gallagher is in a position to remove himself from consideration to lead SEC.
What comes next?
Now that the SEC is expected to come under more crypto-friendly leadership, the crypto industry has quickly set its sights on shaping regulation.
Crypto companies like Ripple, Circle, and Kraken are currently lobbying for a seat at Trump’s promised cryptocurrency advisory council, which he said will be a part of his new administration.
“It’s being fleshed out, but I anticipate the leading executives from America’s bitcoin and crypto firms to be represented,” said David Bailey, CEO of Bitcoin Magazine, who has spoken with the President-elect about Bitcoin policy.
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong met Trump behind closed doors to express interest in being on the council. Others, like Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire, outrightly told the New York Times he wanted to be on the council, according to a company spokesperson.
The crypto council is likely to fall under the White House’s National Economic Council, which coordinates and implements the President’s economic policies, or a separate White House apparatus, sources have said.
The council will advise the POTUS on digital asset policy, work with Congress on crypto legislation, create Trump’s promised Bitcoin reserve, and coordinate between agencies, including the Securities and Exchange Commission, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and the Treasury.
Commissioner Hester Peirce or Mark Uyeda may fill the soon-to-be-vacant SEC Chair position. The two are believed to be more tolerant of the crypto industry.
Such an appointment could clear the bad blood between the crypto industry and the SEC, giving way to a more supportive regulatory stance. However, only time will show the extent of regulatory reform under new leadership.
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