SEC and CFTC crypto oversight to be left with three commissioners after key departure
Seven commissioner positions across the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) will be vacant after Friday, leaving only a small number of leaders at the financial regulators to oversee parts of the $3 trillion crypto industry.
Following the departure of a Republican member, the two US financial agencies responsible for overseeing and enforcing digital-asset regulations will have just three commissioners between them after Friday.
Hester Peirce, who has served as a commissioner at the SEC for eight years, is set to leave the agency on Friday, around two months before the end of the 18-month extension to her second term. Peirce, known to many in the industry as “Crypto Mom” because of her views on digital assets, will be departing at a time when the SEC will have only two commissioners. This will be just the second time in US history that the agency has operated with two commissioners.
At the SEC, Chair Paul Atkins and fellow Republican Mark Uyeda will be the only commissioners remaining on a bipartisan panel that is expected to have five members. The CFTC, another federal regulator responsible for many aspects of crypto oversight and enforcement, has had Chair Michael Selig as its sole commissioner since December 2025, when acting chair Caroline Pham left.
Under federal law, US President Donald Trump is the only person who can nominate candidates to fill the vacant leadership positions at the SEC and CFTC. The White House, however, has not announced any nominations or stated an intention to nominate additional members to the financial agencies. Trump selected all of the current members with the exception of Uyeda, who was appointed by President Joe Biden in 2022.
Cointelegraph contacted the SEC and CFTC for comment on possible nominations but had not received an immediate response. A White House official said Trump planned to nominate members to both agencies “in the near future.” A CNBC report published on Sept. 4 said White House officials had been vetting four candidates for the vacant CFTC commissioner positions, but did not identify them.
“Congress designed these boards and commissions to be bipartisan and gave them the authority to regulate some of the most vital and significant parts of American life,” Senate Democrats wrote in a June letter to Trump and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, referring to the SEC, CFTC and other departments. “But the Trump Administration appears intent on ensuring that it retains complete control over these agencies, with little interest in working in good faith with Congress.”
Three commissioners overseeing crypto without CLARITY
With their leadership teams incomplete, both financial agencies continue to shape crypto regulation through rulemaking rather than legislation passed by Congress. Earlier this month, many industry participants had urged US lawmakers to pass the Digital Asset Clarity (CLARITY) Act, but the bill did not pass the Republican-controlled Senate.
The CLARITY Act was expected to expand the CFTC’s authority over digital-asset regulation in areas currently overseen by the SEC. Because Congress did not pass the bill, both agencies have announced different approaches to interpreting federal laws as they apply to token issuers. These include SEC staff guidance on investment contracts and CFTC guidance on how companies could use blockchain-based recordkeeping.