The Securities and Exchange Commission will host four new public roundtables on crypto regulation between April and June, marking a noticeable shift in the agency’s approach under Acting Chair Mark T. Uyeda. Each session will focus on a distinct area of the crypto industry, ranging from trading platforms to decentralized finance.
The agency announced the schedule in a March 25 statement. The series begins April 11 with a session titled “Between a Block and a Hard Place: Tailoring Regulation for Crypto Trading.” The remaining events will cover crypto custody (April 25), tokenization (May 12), and decentralized finance (June 6). All events will be streamed live from the SEC’s Washington headquarters, with in-person attendance subject to registration and security screening.
SEC Commissioner Hester M. Peirce, who leads the agency’s Crypto Task Force, described the roundtables as
“an opportunity for us to hear a lively discussion among experts about what the regulatory issues are and what the Commission can do to solve them.”
Task Force Created to Redefine Crypto Oversight
The SEC’s Crypto Task Force was launched on January 21, shortly after Uyeda succeeded former Chair Gary Gensler. The initiative is designed to draw regulatory boundaries, create practical registration paths for crypto firms, and develop disclosure frameworks. It also aims to target enforcement actions more selectively.
The task force held its inaugural roundtable on March 21, focused on defining the security status of crypto assets. That session, titled “How We Got Here and How We Get Out,” set the tone for a broader re-evaluation of crypto oversight at the Commission.
As of March 25, detailed agendas and speaker lists for the upcoming sessions had not been disclosed. However, the SEC stated that recordings of all roundtables would be made available online. Members of the public can submit panelist requests by emailing the task force directly.
Policy Rollbacks Under New SEC Leadership
Uyeda’s appointment has coincided with a departure from the SEC’s prior hardline stance on crypto. Since assuming office on January 20, Uyeda has initiated efforts to reverse policies introduced during the Biden administration and under Gensler’s leadership.
On March 17, Uyeda announced plans to withdraw a proposed rule that would have imposed stricter custody requirements for crypto assets held by investment advisers. Earlier, in a March 10 speech, he asked staff to explore abandoning elements of a proposal that would compel crypto trading platforms to register as exchanges under expanded definitions.
The agency also plans to host a separate roundtable on artificial intelligence in finance on March 27. That event will examine the benefits and risks of AI technologies, with participation from Commissioners Uyeda, Peirce, and Caroline Crenshaw.
