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SEC's Last Major Legal Official Exits, Leaving Clean Slate for Trump Era
With the general counsel stepping down, some of the main characters in the crypto industry's recent clashes with the Securities and Exchange Commission are out.
Jan 16, 2025, 10:07 p.m.
What to know:
- The exit door is propped open at the Securities and Exchange Commission as most of the top officials — now including its general counsel — depart on the eve of President-elect Donald Trump's return to the government.
- Trump's newly appointed SEC leadership will have no holdovers to contend with among the agency's senior legal officials.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's top lawyer, General Counsel Megan Barbero, will step away next week, joining the exodus of top agency officials who had been responsible for the SEC's legal battles with the crypto industry in recent years.
"Her measured advice and judgment have been critical to the decision making of the Commission," said Chair Gary Gensler, in a statement about Barbero's exit, which is set for January 20. That's the day Gensler, the author of the SEC's crypto stance, is also leaving, just as President-elect Donald Trump is sworn in for a second term.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Barbero was the top lawyer at the agency, responsible for how its legal department conducted its disputes with crypto businesses in federal courts and for advising on its enforcement posture. She had served as general counsel since February 2023.
The SEC's enforcement chief, Gurbir Grewal, left in October, and the accounting head who was behind the agency's controversial crypto accounting policy, Paul Munter, also announced his pending departure this week.
Read More: Crypto's U.S. Banking Problem Likely Among the First Things Tackled Under Trump
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Ce qu'il:
- As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M.
- GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month.
- Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B.
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