Brian Brooks has been named one of the potential candidates for SEC Head, according to the prediction platform Kalshi. Brooks has previously served as Binance.US CEO and chief legal officer of Coinbase.
Based on a Kalshi prediction market, Brian Brooks’ name has come up as one of the top picks for Gary Gensler’s potential replacement alongside big crypto-advocates like Robinhood’s Chief Legal Officer Dan Gallagher, “Crypto Mom” Hester Pierce, SEC Commissioner Mark Uyeda, and “Crypto Dad” J Christopher Giancarlo.
Many traders on X responded positively to Brooks’ inclusion on the list , using the hashtag #BrianBrooksforSEC and tagging Donald Trump in their posts.
Brooks addressed the speculations by outlining key initiatives he believes the future SEC head should prioritize to foster a more crypto-friendly financial sector. Many of these initiatives are rooted in policies from the previous Trump administration during his tenure at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.
“Whoever Donald Trump appoints as SEC chair won’t be starting from scratch. In his last administration, President Trump built the infrastructure for two ATH cycles,”
Brooks in a post on X.
The first item that he believes should be on the SEC Chair’s agenda is giving national banks the green light to hold custody over crypto assets. He notes that the SEC would need to have “qualified custodians for institutional crypto asset management.”
Second, the SEC would have to provide a clear guidance for bank deposits that support stablecoins, as stablecoins can strengthen America’s global reserve currency status. Next would be authorizing financial firms to serve as validator nodes on blockchains to further legitimize them and put blockchains on the same level as ATM and SWIFT.
He also referenced the OCC’s conditional approval of Anchorage Trust Company’s conversion into Anchorage Digital Bank, which he sees as a blueprint for progressive steps in crypto asset custody.
“In short, the first Donald Trump administration moved the needle on these issues. The next SEC Chair doesn’t have to start from zero,” concluded Brooks.
Once a Senior Deputy Comptroller and Chief Operating Officer at the OCC, Brooks has been an active figure in the crypto industry, holding executive positions in Coinbase, BitFury Group, and Binance.US.
Brooks’ track record and experience in both the crypto industry and the economic policy sector make him a favorable pick to replace Gensler as SEC Chairman.
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