The encryption supervision of SEC and CFTC will fall into the hands of three commissioners after key officials resign.

After this Friday, there will be a total of 7 vacant seats among the members of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). At that time, only a few regulatory officials will be responsible for overseeing some of the affairs of the $3 trillion crypto industry.

Two financial institutions in the United States responsible for supervising and enforcing regulations on digital assets will have only three members left by this Friday, following the departure of a Republican member.

On Friday, Hester Pearce ( Hester Peirce ), who served as a commissioner at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for 8 years, will leave the agency about two months earlier than the end of her second 18-month extension in office. Pearce is referred to by many in the industry as the "Crypto Mom" ( Crypto Mom ) due to her stance on digital assets. Her departure will mark only the second time in the history of the SEC that it has operated with just two commissioners.

In terms of SEC, two Republicans, Chairman Paul Atkins (Paul Atkins) and Mark Uyeda (Mark Uyeda), will become the last two serving members of the committee. Traditionally, such bipartisan committees should consist of five people. On the other hand, as another federal regulatory agency overseeing multiple areas of crypto regulation and enforcement, CFTC has been led by Chairman Michael Selig (Michael Selig) as the sole member since December 2025, following the departure of Acting Chairman Carolyn Fan (Caroline Pham).

According to United States federal law, Donald Trump ( Donald Trump ), as the President, is the only person authorized to nominate candidates to fill the vacant leadership positions of SEC and CFTC. However, the White House has not yet announced any nominations, nor has it indicated any intention to add members to these financial institutions; among these members, all except for Uyeda were selected by Trump, while Uyeda was a candidate nominated by Biden in 2022.

Related Reading: Former SEC Acting Chairman: The institution withdrew the crypto case to avoid credibility issues

Cointelegraph contacted SEC and CFTC regarding potential nominations but did not receive a response immediately. A White House official stated that Trump intends to nominate members from these two organizations "in the near future." A report on CNBC dated September 4th mentioned that White House officials were reviewing four candidates at that time to fill the vacant commissioner positions in CFTC, but no names were mentioned.

"When Congress established these committees and agencies, the intention was for them to maintain a bipartisan nature and to grant them the power to oversee some of the most critical and important areas of American life," Senate Democrats stated in a letter to Trump and Senate Majority Leader John Thune ( John Thune ) in June, referring to SEC, CFTC , and other departments. "However, the Trump administration seems determined to ensure it continues to have full control over these agencies, with little intention of cooperating with Congress in good faith."

In the absence of the CLARITY legislation, 3 commissioners continue to oversee the crypto industry

In the absence of a complete leadership team, these two financial institutions are still advancing crypto regulation through rule-making rather than congressional legislation. Earlier this month, many in the industry were pushing for U.S. legislators to pass the Digital Assets Clarification Act (Digital Asset Clarity Act, abbreviated as CLARITY Act), but the bill failed to pass in the Senate, which is controlled by Republicans.

Initially, it was expected that the Clear Act would grant CFTC more regulatory powers over digital assets, which are currently in the hands of SEC. Since the bill did not pass Congress, both agencies have announced different interpretations of how federal laws apply to token issuers: for example, SEC has issued guidelines for staff regarding investment contracts, while CFTC has clarified how companies can use blockchain for record-keeping.

Magazine: SEC Winners and Losers under the New Tokenized Stock Rules