After US lawmakers failed to pass a comprehensive digital asset market structure bill, financial regulators stepped up efforts to rewrite the rules governing crypto companies and token offerings on their own. However, the country's two primary market regulators are severely understaffed at the leadership level, leaving decisions on regulating the $3 trillion crypto market largely in the hands of three individuals — two of whom were nominated by US President Donald Trump.

At the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), only two commissioners remain — Chair Paul Atkins and former Acting Chair Mark Uyeda — following the departure of Commissioner Hester Peirce earlier this month. The leadership shortage at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is starker still: Michael Selig has been the agency's only Senate-confirmed chair and commissioner since December 2025. Each regulator is intended to have five commissioners.

Rules in place of legislation

Both agencies have proposed rules that appear designed to stand in for legislation from Congress. In August, the SEC proposed rules providing companies with a safe harbor from tokens being treated as “investment contracts,” and the CFTC followed suit in October with proposed rules on exchanges, with Selig saying the agency would use its “existing statutory authorities” to address crypto regulation. Atkins added on Oct. 2 that “more regulatory proposals [were] on the horizon” for crypto.

A quorum of one

On Sept. 30, the SEC made those regulatory avenues easier to pursue with a depleted bench, releasing a final rule that took effect on Oct. 2 — the same day Peirce left her post — and that it said amended quorum requirements to “promot[e] flexibility and finality of agency rulemaking.” A quorum is the minimum number of commissioners an agency must have present to convene and vote on official business, such as adopting rules, meaning quorum thresholds can determine whether regulatory proposals can advance at all. In many cases, the rule reduces the number of commissioners needed for a quorum to a single person when only two are present.

“[...] with now just two commissioners around and it being entirely possible that one of them might have to recuse themselves from an issue (or be otherwise MIA), just one is now enough to pass a formal rule that applies to America’s vast multitrillion-dollar securities markets,” wrote Robin Wigglesworth in an Oct. 5 op-ed for the Financial Times.

Related: Crypto regulation at SEC, CFTC to come down to 3 commissioners following key resignation

Uyeda responded in his own Financial Times op-ed on Sunday, claiming that the SEC’s “commitment to its mission remains unchanged” despite having only two commissioners and no announcement from Trump about additional nominations to fill the empty seats. The policymaker said the rule change “clarifies that the Commission can establish a quorum if all but one commissioner is disqualified from a matter.”

“Suggesting that the SEC is ‘hastily revamp[ing]’ its quorum rule so that the remaining commissioners can ‘have their way’ makes for a colourful comparison to fictional dystopian regimes but misleads readers about why the Commission revised its quorum rule and why it’s for the better,” said Uyeda.

As of Tuesday, the White House had not announced any nominations for either the SEC or the CFTC, potentially leaving the rulemaking process in the hands of a single person at each agency for months, if not longer.

Congress still has time to vote on the market structure bill at the center of the controversy, the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act, but some experts do not expect lawmakers to advance the legislation during the lame duck session between the 2026 midterm elections and the swearing-in of the next session in January.

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