The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced on October 2 that its chief enforcer, Gurbir Grewal, will leave his post on October 11.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced on October 2 that its chief enforcer, Gurbir Grewal, will leave his post on October 11. Grewal leaves after a tenure marked by some of the most aggressive oversight over the cryptocurrency industry, during which he recommended more than 100 enforcement actions against crypto operators, including some of the world's largest trading platforms.
The SEC has named Sanjay Wadhwa, the deputy director of the enforcement division, as acting director until a full-time replacement is found. This comes at a time when the agency is under growing political pressure, especially over how it regulates cryptocurrency.
Grewal's departure has fed speculation that the SEC will soften its stance on crypto as the November U.S. presidential election draws near. Variant Fund chief legal officer Jake Chervinsky took to social media to suggest the departure might represent "the inevitable end to a campaign of unlawful harassment and misrepresentation resulting in many embarrassing defeats in court."
The politics around cryptocurrency regulation have been increasingly fraught. Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris recently said the United States should lead in the crypto industry while Republican candidate Donald Trump promised to "fire" SEC Chair Gary Gensler if elected. The latter came under fire himself from lawmakers in a September House Financial Services Committee hearing over his approach to crypto regulation.
Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency sector has not been sitting on its hands. The political action committee Fairshake, which is allied with some of the largest entities in the sector like Ripple and Coinbase, reportedly raised over $169 million for the 2024 election cycle.
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