SEC’s Crypto Task Force to host roundtable on crypto security status

The US Securities and Exchange Commission’s Crypto Task Force is set to host a roundtable later this month on the “security status” of digital assets.

It comes the same day the agency announced the staffing lineup for the task force, which taps a former big law firm crypto lawyer along with longstanding SEC staff.

The SEC said in a March 3 press release that it will host a series of roundtables at its Washington, DC head office, dubbed the “Spring Sprint Toward Crypto Clarity.”

The first roundtable will kick off on March 21 with a discussion titled “How We Got Here and How We Get Out — Defining Security Status.”

“I am looking forward to drawing on the expertise of the public in developing a workable regulatory framework for crypto,” said Crypto Task Force lead Commissioner Hester Peirce.

The SEC’s acting chair, Mark Uyeda, launched the Crypto Task Force in late January to develop a crypto framework for the agency. One of President Donald Trump’s promises was to alleviate regulatory enforcement of the crypto industry.

The agency has recently dropped multiple litigation efforts against crypto companies, which were launched during the Biden administration. The most recent litigation the agency abandoned on March 3 was its lawsuit against crypto exchange Kraken.

In an earlier press release on March 3, the SEC announced the 14 members of its Crypto Task Force, which notably named Michael Selig as its chief counsel alongside longtime SEC staff who would advise the group. Selig was a partner at the prestigious international law firm Willkie Farr & Gallagher before he joined the agency.

An archived version of his profile from the firm’s website — which has been deleted — noted Selig’s counseled crypto, non-fungible token (NFT) and stablecoin firms.

It also added he “represented clients in enforcement matters before the SEC and CFTC [Commodity Futures Trading Commission] involving regulatory compliance violations.”

Former CFTC chair and Willkie senior counsel Chris Giancarlo, widely known as “Crypto Dad,” congratulated Selig in a March 3 X post, saying he was “proud and excited for my protégé.”

Also of note is Peirce’s former policy counsel, Sumeera Younis, who was named the task force’s operations chief.

In a statement, Peirce said the crypto force “exhibits deep expertise and an enthusiastic commitment to identifying — with the help of other talented staff across the Commission and interested members of the public — workable solutions to difficult crypto regulatory problems.”

Last month, acting chair Uyeda announced some of the force’s staff, which named Landon Zinda, the former policy director of crypto advocacy organization Coin Center as a senior adviser.

Peirce’s former counsel, Richard Gabbert, picked up the force’s chief of staff role, while Uyeda’s former policy adviser, Taylor Asher, was made the group’s chief policy adviser.

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