according to memo From the White House on Monday afternoon, President Donald Trump tapped GOP Commissioner Mark Uyeda to serve as acting chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The appointment took place after Trump's official inauguration on Monday morning.

Uyeda, currently serving the second of his five-year term at the SEC, will serve as interim head of Wall Street's top cop, while Trump's pick for the permanent seat, Paul Atkins, awaits Senate confirmation. it may take several months.

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FOX Business reported earlier Uyeda was likely to take over as chairman after GOP Commissioner Hester Peirce said privately she was not interested in the role, preferring instead to lead the agency's new approach to regulating the $3.5 trillion cryptocurrency industry, sources said. is familiar with the issue.

Mark Toshiro Uyeda, the Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) nominee for President Biden, speaks during a confirmation hearing for the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee on May 19, 2022, in Washington. (Ting Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images/Getty Images)

Employees of Uyeda and Peirce, as well as an SEC spokesman, did not respond to requests for comment.

Under Uyeda's leadership, the SEC is poised to begin reversing policies established by Biden's progressive chairman, Gary Gensler, who officially resigned from his post on Monday.

Some of the changes Uyeda will oversee include ending climate disclosure rules that require companies to report greenhouse gas emissions, as well as limiting the scope of the consolidated audit trail (CAT), a large database designed to track emissions. All stock and options trading raises privacy and data security concerns in U.S. financial markets, critics say.

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Perhaps most closely watched will be Uyeda's approach to cryptocurrency regulation and whether he will end the so-called “enforced regulatory” crackdown imposed by Gensler, who has approved more than 100 legal actions against the sector during his four-year tenure.

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler testifies during a Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs oversight hearing to investigate the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Capitol Hill, Sept. 12, in Washington. (ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images/Getty Images)

Uyeda and Peirce, dubbed “Crypto Mother” for their pro-industry stance, have been outspoken in their criticism of how the commission under Gensler has handled efforts to bring the digital assets industry into compliance.

“I think our policy and approach over the last few years has really been a disaster for the entire industry,” Uyeda said in an interview with FOX Business in November.

Uyeda also noted that he aims to help President Trump fulfill his campaign promise to end what he calls the Biden Administration's “war on crypto.” According to Uyeda, this could include suspending new agency enforcement actions against crypto firms that do not have allegations of fraud or damages and are not registered with the commission. In addition, it may require review of all cases currently in active litigation on the issue. Some of these ongoing cases include Coinbase, Kraken, and blockchain payments company Ripple, all of which have been sued by the SEC for failing to register cryptocurrency token sales despite unclear laws regarding the classification of digital assets.

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Creating regulatory clarity for digital assets is a top priority for the new SEC commission under the Trump administration.

Like Uyeda, Peirce has spoken out against regulatory pressure and advocated for so-called “safe harbors” that allow companies working with emerging technologies like blockchain and artificial intelligence to operate under agency oversight. threat of enforcement actions.

Hester Peirce, commissioner of the US Securities and Exchange Commission, during the Unauthorized II event on September 11, 2023 in Austin, Texas. (Thomas Allison/Bloomberg via Getty Images/Getty Images)

Peirce is expected to take a leading role in reevaluating the agency's approach to cryptocurrency by creating and leading an internal “crypto task force” that will encourage open dialogue with industry players and begin the process of providing greater clarity for the digital asset sector. through potential new regulations.

It's unclear how soon any planned policy changes at the SEC will take place. Uyeda and Peirce are currently the commission's only GOP members, along with Gensler and Caroline Crenshaw, the lone Democrat following the resignation of Democratic Commissioner Jaime Lizarraga. In addition to Atkins, Trump will appoint another GOP member and two non-Republican commissioners to the commission.

Meanwhile, many in the crypto world, as well as politicians past and present, are praising Trump's choice of Uyeda.

“Mark Uyeda has the knowledge and integrity to be an excellent SEC chairman,” said former Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey. “Mark is smart, fair, hard-working and has a deep respect for the rule of law.”

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Meanwhile, the SEC's sister agency, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which is poised to take on more responsibility for cryptocurrency regulation, will be headed by acting chairwoman Caroline Pham, who was appointed by Trump on Monday. He has not yet appointed a permanent chairman. Pham also advocates for transparent cryptocurrency policies and regulations that encourage technical innovation.

“Carolyn Pham has won her seat as acting chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission,” said Chris Giancarlo, former chairman of the CFTC. “He is hard-working, open-minded and very forward-thinking, precisely the qualities that set the CFTC apart as a market regulator. I am confident that he will continue to enhance the agency's global recognition for market intelligence and excellence.”