US crypto oversight is increasingly being shaped by a very small group of regulators as vacancies persist at the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. With Congress still stuck on market-structure legislation, concerns are growing that major decisions affecting the roughly $3 trillion digital-asset sector could be made by only a handful of officials.
As of Oct. 13, just three commissioners across the two agencies were positioned to handle key regulatory decisions. Both the SEC and the CFTC are designed to have five commissioners, but those seats remain largely unfilled, leaving the agencies to move ahead on crypto policy under existing law rather than through a new framework from Congress.
Vacancies leave few decision-makers
The SEC is down to two commissioners: Chairman Paul Atkins and Mark Uyeda. The number fell further after Hester Peirce stepped down earlier in October. At the CFTC, Acting Chairman Michael Selig has been the only Senate-confirmed commissioner since December 2025.
That means only three commissioners across the two main US market regulators are currently responsible for some of the most consequential crypto-related decisions. Two of those three officials were nominated by President Donald Trump, adding to concern that regulatory direction could become concentrated while the agencies operate far below full membership.
Rulemaking continues despite legislative delays
Even with Congress yet to pass dedicated market-structure legislation, both agencies have continued to develop crypto rules using powers they already have. In August, the SEC proposed a safe harbor that would let companies avoid having certain tokens treated as investment contracts.
The CFTC also began work this month on rules related to exchanges. Selig has said he intends to use the agency's existing authority to build out a framework for crypto oversight, while Atkins indicated on Oct. 2 that further SEC regulatory proposals are still on the way.
SEC quorum revision draws scrutiny
Attention has intensified after the SEC changed its quorum rules. The agency adopted revisions on Sept. 30, and they took effect on Oct. 2. Under the updated framework, one commissioner can count as a quorum in some circumstances when the SEC has only two commissioners and certain conditions are met.
Critics say that raises the possibility that rulemaking power could be concentrated even further. Uyeda has defended the revision as an operational measure rather than an attempt to hand broad discretion to a small group. In a Financial Times opinion piece, he said the change simply clarifies how the SEC can form a quorum when other commissioners cannot participate in deliberations on particular matters.
What comes next
As of Oct. 13, the White House had not announced new nominees to fill the open seats at either agency. For now, that leaves the current arrangement in place, with a thin bench of commissioners continuing to oversee crypto-related policymaking.
Meanwhile, Congress has not finished work on the CLARITY Act, a bill intended to address crypto market structure. Some experts believe substantial progress may be hard before a new Congress is seated in January 2027, after the November 2026 midterm elections. Until then, the SEC and CFTC appear set to keep refining crypto oversight through existing authority and with limited personnel.
Source: en.bloomingbit.io