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Investing.com-- The Securities and Exchange Commission is moving to scale back a special unit dedicated to crypto enforcement as U.S. President Donald Trump delivers on his promises of deregulation, the New York Times (NYSE:NYT) reported on Tuesday.
The SEC will scale back a special unit of over 50 lawyers and staff members that was dedicated to crypto regulation, the NYT reported, citing five people with knowledge of the matter.
Some lawyers in the crypto unit will be assigned to other departments, while some of the people briefed on the SEC change described the move as “an unfair demotion,” the NYT report said.
The move comes just weeks after Trump signed an executive order aimed at establishing a regulatory framework and “eliminating regulatory overreach on digital assets.”
Trump had campaigned on a pro-crypto stance, and had last month named Republican Mark Uyeda as acting SEC Chair. One of Uyeda’s first moves in office was to establish a team to review the SEC’s enforcement-driven approach to crypto regulation.
The team is led by SEC commissioner Hester Peirce, an outspoken crypto proponent.
The SEC still has ongoing enforcement actions against several crypto firms, most notably Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN), although investors expect the case to be dropped under a Trump administration.
Former SEC Chair Gary Gensler had led a crackdown on the industry after a series of high-profile crashes, frauds and bankruptcies in 2022.
Trump has nominated Washington lawyer Paul Atkins to succeed Gensler. Atkins has openly supported a lighter approach to regulating crypto assets.
World no.1 crypto Bitcoin had raced to record highs ahead of Trump’s inauguration in late-January. The crypto traded down 4% at $97,564.7 by 18:31 ET (23:31 GMT).