SEC Announces Roundtable on Crypto Trading Regulation
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has unveiled a roster of executives from prominent crypto and financial firms who will participate in an upcoming roundtable focused on the regulation of cryptocurrency trading. Scheduled for April 11, the event is titled “Between a Block and a Hard Place: Tailoring Regulation for Crypto Trading,” and aims to address the complexities of establishing effective trading rules for the crypto market. This gathering marks the second installment in a series of discussions organized by the SEC’s newly formed Crypto Task Force. Among the participants are Katherine Minarik, chief legal officer at Uniswap Labs; Chelsea Pizzola, associate general counsel at Cumberland DRW; and Gregory Tusar, vice president of institutional products at Coinbase—all of which are companies that have previously faced scrutiny from the regulator.
Under the Biden administration, both Cumberland DRW and Coinbase were the subjects of lawsuits alleging violations of securities laws, though these cases were dropped earlier this year following a shift in administration. Additionally, the SEC initiated an investigation into Uniswap Labs in April 2024, which concluded in February without further action. Other notable attendees include Jon Herrick, product chief at the New York Stock Exchange; Austin Reid, business lead at crypto brokerage FalconX; Richard Johnson, CEO of securities tokenization firm Texture Capital; and Christine Parlour, finance chair at the University of California, Berkeley.
SEC’s Ongoing Crypto Discussions
Joining the conversation will be Dave Lauer, co-founder of the advocacy group We the Investors, and Tyler Gellasch, CEO of the non-profit Healthy Markets Association, with Nicholas Losurdo, a partner at law firm Goodwin Procter, set to moderate the discussion. Representing the SEC will be acting chair Mark Uyeda, Crypto Task Force chief of staff Richard Gabbert, and Commissioners Caroline Crenshaw and Hester Peirce. This roundtable is part of a broader initiative by the SEC, termed the “Spring Sprint Toward Crypto Clarity,” which aims to clarify regulatory frameworks for the cryptocurrency sector. The first discussion in this series took place on March 21 and centered on the legal classification of cryptocurrencies, while future sessions are planned to cover topics including custody solutions, tokenization, and decentralized finance (DeFi).
Review of Staff Statements on Crypto
The SEC’s roundtable events occur as the agency, under the leadership of President Donald Trump, seeks to overhaul its regulatory approach to the cryptocurrency industry. One of the latest developments involves a review of staff comments related to crypto, as acting chair Uyeda announced on April 5 that he would assess seven staff statements, five of which pertain to cryptocurrencies. This initiative is part of a larger trend toward deregulation, influenced by Trump’s executive order and recommendations from the Department of Government Efficiency, led by Elon Musk.
The aim of this review is to pinpoint staff statements that should be revised or withdrawn in line with the agency’s current priorities. Among the statements under consideration is an April 2019 analysis from the SEC’s Strategic Hub for Innovation and Financial Technology, which argued that certain crypto sales could be classified as investment contracts under the Howey test—a legal standard used to determine whether a transaction qualifies as an investment contract. Additional statements under review include guidance from the Division of Investment Management concerning Bitcoin futures, and a December 2022 alert urging companies to assess how recent crypto firm bankruptcies might affect their disclosures. The agency will also evaluate a February 2021 alert from the Division of Examinations that highlighted the unique risks associated with the trading of digital assets deemed securities.
