Former Chainlink Exec Replaces Michael Selig As SEC’s Crypto Task Force Chief Counsel
As the Trump administration pushes lawmakers and regulators to develop clear regulatory frameworks, a former Chainlink government has joined the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) Crypto Task Force as its new authorized chief.
SEC Appoints New Crypto Task Force Legal Advisor
On Monday, Chainlink’s social media announced Taylor Lindman’s departure from the corporate to hitch the SEC’s Crypto Task Force as its Chief Counsel. The government labored at Chainlink Labs for five years, the place he held a number of senior authorized positions, together with Deputy General Counsel.
In an X submit, the corporate thanked Lindman for his service, affirming that it seems to be ahead to “modernizing the U.S. monetary system collectively, taking it to the subsequent degree of its improvement and speedy development.”
The former Chainlink government will substitute Michael Selig, who was appointed Chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in December 2025. He will function the Crypto Task Force’s new senior authorized advisor, making certain compliance, threat administration, and guiding authorized interpretation.
Following the departure of Gary Gensler, the SEC’s former appearing chairman, Mark Uyeda, established the Crypto Task Force to assessment the company’s strategy to digital belongings and to develop a transparent, complete regulatory framework.
Since its launch, the duty drive has held a number of roundtable occasions to interact with trade leaders and talk about completely different features of the sector’s regulation, together with tokenization, DeFi, monetary surveillance, and privateness.
SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce, who additionally leads the duty drive, confirmed the information, welcoming Lindman in an X submit. “Welcome to our new Crypto Task Force Chief Counsel, Taylor Lindman, who joined the SEC as we speak. I predict nice issues!” the submit reads.
SEC To Advance Digital Asset Regulation
Last week, SEC Chairman Paul Atkins shared how the company plans advance digital belongings regulation this 12 months. Speaking at ETH Denver alongside Commissioner Peirce, Atkins affirmed that the Commission would transfer ahead with its regulatory work by way of Project Crypto, which was lately relaunched as a joint initiative with the CFTC.
He famous that the 2 Commissions are “planning nice issues collectively – harmonization, joint rulemaking – a typical, coordinated strategy in contrast to something seen earlier than at these two, usually sparring businesses.”
As reported by Bitcoinist, the sister businesses partnered to advance a transparent crypto asset taxonomy, make clear jurisdictional strains, take away duplicative compliance necessities, and cut back regulatory fragmentation.
In addition, he introduced that within the coming months, the company will assessment a number of initiatives, together with a Commission framework “to clarify how we take into consideration crypto belongings which can be topic to an funding contract.”
In addition, they may contemplate an innovation exemption for companies to facilitate restricted buying and selling of sure tokenized securities on novel platforms; no-action letters and exemptive orders to offer further readability; rulemaking on custody of non-security digital belongings, akin to cost stablecoins, by broker-dealers; and a switch agent modernization rulemaking, which can “accommodate the position that blockchain can play in recordkeeping.”
Earlier this month, Atkins additionally outlined the SEC’s plan to develop formal steering on token classification. At a House Financial Services Committee listening to, the chairman famous that regulatory readability for crypto belongings is “lengthy overdue,” emphasizing {that a} complete federal framework, such because the market construction invoice, can be wanted to supply long-lasting rulemaking that may’t be simply modified.
“Under Commissioner Hester Peirce’s management of our Crypto Task Force, SEC employees has supplied extra readability up to now 12 months than within the prior decade, however there isn’t any motion we are able to take that future-proofs our rulebook extra formidably than nonpartisan market construction laws,” he said.
