Trump Eyes Brooks for Pro-Crypto Regulator Roles, Including SEC

Brian Brooks, formerly the CEO of Binance.US and Acting Head of the OCC, has been shortlisted for several regulator jobs under Trump. Brooks is not in consideration for the CFTC, but may lead other financial agencies.

Since this announcement, odds on American financial Kalshi put Brooks in second place for the next SEC Chair.

Trump’s Brooks Appointment

According to Fox Business journalist Eleanor Terrett, Brooks’s name has been thrown in the hat for several financial agency roles. It’s becoming highly likely that Brooks will have a significant role in the financial regulation system during Trump’s upcoming presidency.

Under Brooks’s direction, the OCC fined several major centralized institutes back in 2022, which included giants like JP Morgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, and Wells Fargo Bank. However, Brooks is highly pro-crypto and a strong advocate for XRP.

“Outside the CFTC, some of the other financial regulatory agencies are the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), FSOC (Financial Stability Oversight Council) and the Federal Reserve,” said Terrett.

Since John Thune became the new Senate Majority Leader, the community has anticipated an enhanced role in crypto regulation from the CFTC. Trump has started a thorough effort to re-orient US institutions in a pro-crypto direction, and this effort concerns many agencies. The SEC and CFTC are the most prominent, but other named agencies have big impacts.

For example, the FDIC has previously denied insurance to cryptoassets, complicating business operations for exchanges and other businesses. The Federal Reserve, on the other hand, is responsible for interest rate cuts. These have had a bullish impact on Bitcoin recently. An industry ally like Brooks leading either of these institutions could bring about major gains.

Additionally, Brooks could still be nominated as Trump’s new SEC head. Famous crypto opponent Gary Gensler is likely to resign from the SEC soon. Whoever replaces him will probably be a crypto advocate. On the one hand, Brooks’ name did not appear on the last rumored shortlist for SEC Chair. However, since this announcement, his Kalshi odds have risen to second place.

Ultimately, Brooks is just one of several pro-crypto candidates that Trump is listing for prominent roles. He will be part of a bigger wave, whether he ends up at the SEC, retaking his old job at the OCC, or any other big agency.