SEC and CFTC Left with Reduced Leadership Amid Crypto Regulation

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) will be operating with reduced leadership after a key commissioner's departure. Hester Peirce, known as 'Crypto Mom' for her views on digital assets, will leave the SEC in two months. This marks only the second time the agency has operated with two commissioners.

The SEC will now have Chair Paul Atkins and Mark Uyeda, both Republicans, remaining as the final two commissioners in a bipartisan panel. The CFTC, another federal regulator behind many aspects of crypto oversight and enforcement, has been led by Chair Michael Selig as the sole commissioner since December 2025.

US President Donald Trump is the only person who can nominate replacements to fill the empty SEC and CFTC leadership seats. However, the White House has not announced any nominations or intention to nominate additional members to the financial agencies. A CNBC report from Sept. 4 said that White House officials had been vetting four candidates to fill the empty commissioner seats at the CFTC.

Without full leadership, both financial agencies continue to advance crypto regulation through rulemaking rather than laws passed by Congress. Many in the industry had been pushing US lawmakers to pass the Digital Asset Clarity (CLARITY) Act earlier this month, but the bill failed in the Republican-controlled Senate.