Valerie Sczcepanik was granted the ominous moniker "Crypto Czar" by the community when she was appointed the Senior Adviser for Digital Assets and Innovation at the SEC. She joined the government agency in 1997, and worked her way up to become the head of the Distributed Ledger Technology Working Group and co-head of the Dark Web Working Group before taking on her role at the top of digital asset regulation.
Since then, she has also been appointed the leader of FinHub — the standalone SEC office focused on financial innovation.
Though one of the most influential figures in crypto, Sczcepanik has not embraced the limelight. In her few public comments, she has promoted dialogue, asking crypto projects not to ask for forgiveness, but for permission before doing something that could potentially violate securities laws.