State Gardienz

The U.S. SEC chair has arguably been the individual with the greatest influence over the direction of America's crypto policies, but his days atop the agency are numbered.

Someday soon, somebody besides Gary Gensler will be calling the shots at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and most of the crypto industry will rejoice.

More than any other figure in the U.S. government, this SEC chair played an unflinching antagonist to its aims. That no-holds-barred opposition to the way crypto companies want to do business is likely to cease, one way or another, in the coming year, when the securities agency gets a new boss.

But the countdown for Gensler raises a number of questions, leaving one final chapter of drama in his reign over crypto (and the rest of securities regulation in the U.S.). And if there's a common feeling among those who watch the SEC closely, it's uncertainty.

Gensler's five-year SEC term expires on Jan. 5, 2026, but tradition suggests a chair will step away if the opposing party takes the White House. Still, they don't have to. A second term for President Donald Trump doesn't mark an automatic end to Gensler's tenure. If he decided to make a stand, he could finish out his term as a commissioner and maintain a Democratic majority at the agency for as long as it takes for the new president to make appointments and the Senate to confirm them.