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Gary Gensler and Jaime Lizárraga, chairman and commissioner, respectively, of the Securities and Exchange Commission, have outlined their resignations.

Gensler's announcement landed on Nov. 23 and Lizárraga’s came a day later. Those leadership moves reflect an expectation for President-elect Donald Trump to fulfill his promise of firing Gensler on day one and evaluating the efficiency of federal organizations and their leadership.

Gensler will resign on Inauguration Day. His resignation comes in tandem with bitcoin hitting unprecedented highs, an asset he is largely critical of.

Gensler has been criticized by bitcoin enthusiasts as being too conservative and reliant on using regulations like the Securities Act of 1933 and the Investment Company Act of 1940 to inhibit innovation. In 2021, his stance on cryptocurrency, outside of stablecoins, was made public when he called the market the “Wild West” and accused it of being “rife with fraud, scams and abuse.”

Despite his statements, he later approved a spot bitcoin ETF earlier this year. His knowledge of blockchain technology and the inner workings of digital assets is extensive, as he has taught courses at MIT on blockchain technology. This has led to questions about the origins of his decision-making process as chair.

He also had strong relationships with the leaders at the now-collapsed FTX, which included a highly criticized meeting with Sam Bankman-Fried in 2022.

He taught at MIT when Glenn Ellison, the father of Caroline Ellison, the CEO of Alameda Research and girlfriend of Bankman-Fried, was head of the economics department at the institute. Gensler also was criticized for targeting Coinbase, whose chief legal officer, Paul Grewal, made a statement just before Gensler’s announcement.

“The current chair of the SEC, Gary Gensler, has led a regulation-by-enforcement campaign against the industry that has been destructive of investor protections and destructive of innovation in ways that we think need to be addressed immediately,” said Grewal.

Lizárraga’s resignation so quickly after Gensler’s leaves a political gap on the commission. Though Lizárraga noted he is leaving to spend more time with family and help take care of his sick wife, his move leaves Caroline Crenshaw as the only Democrat on the five-member team going into next year. Crenshaw’s term has already expired and she is currently working under an extension that can last up to 18 months.

President-elect Trump has spoken about establishing a national bitcoin reserve, starting with the 200,000 bitcoin (nearly $20 billion worth as of Nov. 22) the government currently owns from seized assets from crimes. The reserve will allow for the creation of a process where the Treasury Department could make bitcoin purchases. These moves towards cryptocurrency support from the future Trump administration largely stem from unprecedented efforts by crypto lobbyists in the 2024 U.S. presidential election.