Democrats’ rising odds of retaking the U.S. House are putting fresh pressure on the SEC over crypto enforcement — and Representative Maxine Waters is upping the volume.
Prediction market Kalshi currently places Democrats at about a 75% chance to win the House majority in 2026, and Waters, the top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, used Monday to press SEC Chair Paul Atkins to explain a sweeping pullback in crypto enforcement under his leadership. She formally asked committee Republicans, led by Representative French Hill, to summon Atkins to testify about what she calls the abrupt dismissal or stay of “major enforcement actions” involving industry heavyweights such as Coinbase, Binance and Justin Sun.
Waters said the committee has not probed why the SEC walked away from these cases or how it now plans to protect retail investors from fraud and market manipulation. She also pointed out that some companies publicly announced the end of enforcement actions before the SEC actually voted, and accused Atkins’ office of playing “an unusually active role in negotiating an end to these cases.”
Background: After President Trump took office and Atkins was later confirmed as SEC chair, the agency dropped or backed out of a long list of legal fights with crypto firms. That shift aligns with Trump’s stated goal of bolstering the U.S. crypto industry and with Atkins’ own priority to reduce regulatory friction — a stance critics say blurs the SEC’s independent status.
Waters also criticized the SEC’s reliance on staff statements and informal guidance rather than formal rulemaking, arguing that approach sidesteps the Administrative Procedure Act, excludes public comment, and obscures which interests are influencing policy. “This approach flouts the SEC’s legal obligations… and hides from congressional and public view precisely what interests are influencing SEC decision-making,” she wrote.
CoinDesk reported the letter and noted the SEC did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The dispute raises a bigger question for crypto markets: if Democrats regain control of the House, will congressional oversight intensify and push the SEC back toward more aggressive enforcement and formal rulemaking — or will the agency continue its current, industry-friendly posture under Atkins?
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