Former US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) lawyer Layden Stewart said the regulator urgently needs a new chairman to repair the agency’s damaged relationship with the crypto industry.

Ladan Stewart, who once led legal cases against Ripple and US crypto exchange Coinbase, is pushing for major personnel changes at the SEC. In an interview with Fox Business, Stewart expressed disappointment with current SEC Chairman Gary Gensler’s approach to regulating cryptocurrencies. Since Gensler became SEC chairman in 2021, the agency has taken a rash of enforcement actions against crypto companies, causing frustration among industry leaders.

Stewart said that after leaving the SEC for the private sector to defend the rights of crypto companies, she was struck by the industry’s resentment towards Gensler. Many managers of services working with digital assets believe that Gensler is hindering their activities by refusing to provide clear recommendations on how to conduct a cryptocurrency business. This tension with the regulator has begun to hinder crypto companies’ cooperation with the SEC on regulatory issues. Therefore, without a change in leadership at the SEC, this conflict will only worsen, continuing to harm the industry, the lawyer noted.

Stewart is not alone in calling for the SEC to become more accommodating to the crypto industry. Some former Commission officials have also left the agency to work with private law firms representing cryptocurrency owners. Among them are former SEC Chairman Jay Clayton and former CFO Bill Hinman, who now serve as advisors to cryptocurrency companies.

Last year, Jay Clayton accused Gensler of abuse of power and using the judicial system to prosecute crypto companies. Previously, Clayton said that Bitcoin is not a security, but has elements for making payments and a store of value.