The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission will host a new roundtable on crypto regulation on April 11, bringing together executives and proponents who have previously had contentious relations with the agency.
This session, titled Between a Block and a Hard Place: Tailoring Regulation for Crypto Trading, will take place at the SEC’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., and will be available for live streaming on its website.
The panel’s lineup indicates a change in the Commission’s approach under Acting Chairman Mark Uyeda and Commissioner Hester Peirce’s Crypto Task Force, aiming to gather insights from companies that have faced regulatory scrutiny.
Former Opponents Transition to Advisors
Among the notable participants is Katherine Minarik, Chief Legal Officer at Uniswap Labs, whose company received a Wells Notice in 2024 for purportedly operating an unregistered exchange and broker platform. Prior to her role at Uniswap, Minarik oversaw litigation at Coinbase during its lengthy struggle with the SEC, which involved enforcement lawsuits and investigative probes.
Since then, the SEC has dropped its case against Coinbase and concluded its inquiry into Uniswap, suggesting a strategic shift towards cooperative engagement rather than adversarial litigation.
Likewise, Chelsea Pizzola, Associate General Counsel at Cumberland DRW, has a history marked by regulatory tension. In October 2024, her firm faced an SEC lawsuit for conducting billions in crypto trades allegedly without proper registration.
DRW has previously taken on regulatory challenges, including a successful legal battle against the CFTC during Gary Gensler’s tenure. Pizzola has openly discussed her firm’s unsuccessful attempts to register as a crypto broker-dealer, illustrating the ongoing tensions that now characterize her role on the panel.
Coinbase’s Vice President of Institutional Product, Greg Tusar, will also contribute, representing another firm previously monitored by the SEC. Coinbase had been a key target of “regulation by enforcement,” a strategy that is now under reassessment.
Expert Voices with Controversial Backgrounds
The roundtable will also include Christine Parlour from UC Berkeley, a regular contributor to discussions on DeFi. Her previous attempt to serve as an expert witness in a crypto-related court case was dismissed by the court, which cited concerns about potentially misleading jurors and a lack of methodological rigor. Nevertheless, she is now participating in this significant regulatory roundtable as a guest of the SEC.
Dave Lauer, Co-Founder of Urvin Finance and We the Investors, likewise has a contested reputation. His credibility as an expert witness in high-frequency trading lawsuits has been questioned by exchange operators, who criticized his foundational assumptions and sourcing in analyses.
Despite this, Lauer’s grassroots advocacy and prior testimony before the Senate Banking Committee bolster his position in regulatory dialogues, particularly regarding issues of market fairness and transparency.
Regulatory Landscape Suggests Policy Evolution
The selection of panelists aligns with a broader movement away from punitive enforcement practices toward a more inclusive regulatory approach.
Recent SEC decisions to halt actions against companies like Robinhood and Coinbase may indicate that the era of enforcement-driven oversight in the crypto sector is diminishing. Paul Atkins, a former SEC Commissioner who has been nominated to return as Chairman, has made the case for practical regulatory frameworks that clarify expectations for compliance instead of applying retroactive penalties.
Commissioner Peirce’s Crypto Task Force has framed the roundtable series as a way to collect stakeholder input and investigate nuanced regulatory approaches. This upcoming session, part of several planned, serves as a crucial test of whether the Commission is ready to engage previously adversarial voices in crafting the next phase of crypto governance.
Nicholas Losurdo, a former SEC advisor now a partner at Goodwin Procter LLP, will moderate the discussion. His role in connecting regulatory and industry perspectives may embody the intended atmosphere of the gathering: transforming adversaries into advisors, shaping a framework that could ultimately influence the SEC’s future stance on digital assets.
