Deputy Director of the Financial Division of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Cicely LaMothe, is about to retire. During her tenure, she had a profound impact on the regulatory approach to the crypto market.

Several key policy resolutions she led have attracted industry attention. Among them, clarifying that memecoin does not fall under securities regulation framework has alleviated compliance concerns for many project teams; at the same time, the regulatory stance on staking mechanisms has also become clearer—these two policy signals are widely interpreted as significant shifts in SEC attitude.

Since last year, market observers generally believe that LaMothe’s departure marks the end of an era. She is regarded by the industry as a key figure in shifting SEC crypto policy from confrontation to rational dialogue. Whether this personnel change can maintain the current policy momentum remains to be seen, and further observation of the new officials’ actions is needed.