SEC Eases Quorum Rules, Allowing Rulemaking by a Single Commissioner

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has significantly relaxed its quorum requirements, making it possible under certain conditions for a single commissioner to adopt formal rules applicable across the digital asset market. The move comes amid a prolonged leadership vacuum at both the SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), raising concerns that regulatory direction for the roughly $3 trillion cryptocurrency market could effectively be concentrated in the hands of a very small number of individuals.

According to CoinTelegraph, the SEC issued a final rule on September 30 amending its quorum requirements, effective October 2. The revised rule allows a quorum to be constituted by a single commissioner when only two commissioners remain and specific conditions are met. It does not apply to all matters, however; it is limited to circumstances such as when one commissioner is recused or absent.

The SEC currently has only two remaining members: Chair Paul Atkins and former Acting Chair Mark Uyeda. Commissioner Hester Peirce resigned earlier this month, creating a vacancy. The CFTC's situation is even more acute, with Michael Selig serving as the sole Senate-confirmed chair and commissioner since December 2025.

Both agencies were originally designed to be composed of five commissioners each. With congressional action on digital asset market structure legislation delayed, both agencies have accelerated their own rulemaking using existing legal authority. The SEC proposed a safe harbor rule in August that would exempt tokens from being deemed "investment contracts," while the CFTC announced in October that it would pursue regulatory proposals related to virtual asset exchanges.

Chair Atkins also signaled on October 2 that "additional regulatory proposals" related to digital assets would be forthcoming. Uyeda emphasized in a Financial Times op-ed that the SEC's "commitment to its mission remains unwavering" even with only two commissioners. He explained that the rule change "clarifies that a quorum can be constituted when all but one commissioner is disqualified from a particular matter." FT's Robin Wigglesworth noted in a column on October 5: "With just two commissioners now, and a real possibility that one of them may need to recuse, a single individual could be enough to pass formal rules applying to America's multi-trillion-dollar securities markets." The White House has not yet announced additional nominees to fill the vacancies at either agency.

As a result, the concentration of rulemaking authority in a single individual at each agency could persist for months or longer. Congress still has time to address the controversial Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act, but some experts believe legislative progress is unlikely during the lame-duck session before the next Congress convenes in January following the 2026 midterm elections.

The quorum relaxation has drawn both praise as a pragmatic measure to fill the regulatory void and criticism as policy-making by a handful of individuals. The digital asset market faces a host of major regulatory issues—including securities classification, exchange registration, and token listing standards—meaning a single commissioner's decision could have outsized ripple effects across the entire market.

This asymmetric decision-making structure is likely to persist until the composition of both agencies' commissions is normalized. ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌