Maxine Waters Demands SEC Hearing Over Dropped Crypto Cases and Agency Oversight
Representative Maxine Waters has requested House Financial Services Committee Chairman French Hill to schedule an oversight hearing with SEC Chairman Paul Atkins to examine the SEC's dismissal of major cryptocurrency enforcement actions and alleged politicization under Atkins' leadership.
Waters highlights the termination or pausing of enforcement actions against major crypto firms including Coinbase, Kraken, Binance, and Justin Sun, requesting the SEC to provide rationale for ending these cases which affect millions of retail investors.
Since President Trump's inauguration in January 2025, the SEC has dropped or paused about 60% of crypto cases, with no new crypto enforcement actions filed in 2025. Specific outcomes include the dismissal of Coinbase's case in February 2025 and Kraken's in March 2025 without fines; Binance’s matter ended in May 2025 after a pause; and Ripple's case concluded in August 2025 with a $125 million penalty and withdrawal of appeals.
Waters ties these policy reversals directly to Chairman Atkins and has been critical of Trump-era crypto connections, including the October pardon of CZ, describing these developments as undermining important regulatory guardrails.
In a wider oversight agenda, she stresses ten key areas starting with maintaining SEC independence and warns that politicization, as well as rulemaking driven by staff rather than transparent processes, threaten market integrity and may violate the Administrative Procedure Act.
She also raises concerns about deregulation, citing withdrawals of investor-protection rules related to artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and market structure. The SEC’s Spring 2025 agenda contemplates lowering registration and disclosure thresholds and increasing access to private assets for retirement accounts, while climate-risk disclosure rules were abandoned.
Waters points to staffing and operational challenges within the SEC, referencing Reuters data indicating a 15–19% loss of senior staff across key divisions including Enforcement, Trading and Markets, and Corporate Finance. Additionally, a $50,000 buyout offer is being provided to current employees.
She urges that the requested hearing be convened as soon as practicable when Congress returns to address these pressing issues.
