(Reuters) - The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's new leadership said on Tuesday it had created a task force to develop a regulatory framework for crypto assets, in the first major move by President Donald Trump's new administration to overhaul crypto policy.
Trump, who campaigned on promises to be a "crypto president," has pledged to reverse an industry crackdown under former President Joe Biden's SEC, which sued multiple crypto companies, including Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) and Kraken, alleging they had flouted its rules.
The companies have denied those allegations, arguing the SEC rules are inappropriate for cryptocurrencies and that it is unclear when a crypto token might qualify as a security and therefore be subject to the SEC's oversight. The industry has been calling for years for the SEC to create clear cryptocurrency rules.
Tuesday's move by Republican Commissioner Mark Uyeda, whom Trump named acting SEC chair on Monday, and fellow Republican Commissioner Hester Peirce, marks the first policy win for the crypto industry under the new administration.
"The Task Force's focus will be to help the Commission draw clear regulatory lines, provide realistic paths to registration, craft sensible disclosure frameworks, and deploy enforcement resources judiciously," Uyeda's office said in the announcement.
Reuters reported this month that Uyeda and Peirce were poised to kickstart Trump's crypto policy overhaul, including by beginning the rule-making process. Trump is also expected to soon issue executive orders that would lessen regulatory scrutiny of the crypto industry and help promote the adoption of digital assets, Reuters and other media reported.
"We are encouraged by this meaningful first step towards real policy solutions and ending the regulation by enforcement era of the past," Jonathan Jachym, global head of policy at Kraken said in an email statement. "We look forward to accelerating our policy engagement ... to establish regulatory clarity."
Bitcoin hit a fresh record high of $109,071 on Monday amid investor excitement over the new crypto-friendly administration.
The task force will also help lawmakers as they draft crypto-related legislation while coordinating with other federal bodies, such as the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, as well as state and foreign agencies, the SEC added.
A top executive at Coinbase also applauded the move.
"We have been saying for years to help us by crafting rules for crypto. Over the last four years, the answer was resoundingly 'no,'" the firm's Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal said in a phone interview. "It is a new day."