- President-elect Donald Trump has picked a crypto-friendly attorney to lead the SEC.
- Paul Atkins once served as a commissioner with the agency, and has led an initiative to improve token issuance.
US President-elect Donald Trump has chosen Paul Atkins to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission, the nation’s top financial regulator and the bane of crypto executives during the administration of outgoing President Joe Biden.
“Paul is a proven leader for common sense regulations. He believes in the promise of robust, innovative capital markets that are responsive to the needs of Investors, & that provide capital to make our Economy the best in the World,” Trump wrote in a post on his social media website, Truth Social.
“He also recognizes that digital assets & other innovations are crucial to Making America Greater than Ever Before.”
If confirmed by the Senate, Atkins would replace outgoing Chair Gary Gensler, who recently announced his decision to leave the agency on January 20 — the day of Trump’s inauguration.
Atkin’s representatives did not immediately return a request for comment.
Greg Xethalis, general counsel at crypto venture capital firm Multicoin Capital, predicted Atkins would have a “relatively clean path” during Senate confirmation, citing his first appointment to the agency in 2002.
Atkins co-founded the consulting firm Patomak Global Partners after a six-year stint as an SEC commissioner under George W. Bush.
Atkins has several ties to the crypto industry. The attorney serves on the board of advisers of The Digital Chamber, a crypto lobbying firm, and has co-led its Token Alliance initiative, an effort to develop “best practices for digital asset issuances and trading platforms.” He also serves on the advisory board of Securitize, the transfer agent for BlackRock’s Ethereum-based tokenised money market fund.
Patomak’s clients include crypto exchanges and DeFi platforms. A token issued by Reserve, a crypto business Atkins once advised, jumped more than 40% on Tuesday, when crypto publication Unchained broke the news of the selection.
“This is welcome news to the crypto industry and US capital markets,” Xethalis wrote on X.
“Atkins supports crypto. He knows enough to grok the opportunity to implement reforms that will allow this industry to grow responsibly, onshore.”
Atkins is one of a handful of Trump nominees with ties to the crypto industry.
Once cautious about crypto, Treasury Secretary pick Scott Bessent — a veteran hedge fund manager — praised Trump’s pro-industry stance in a July interview in contrast to the Democratic Party’s less accommodating approach.
“Crypto is about freedom, and the crypto economy is here to stay,” he said.
Commerce Secretary pick Howard Lutnick, meanwhile, is the CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald. The firm reportedly manages most of Tether’s $132 billion in assets, earning it tens of millions annually in fees.
Cantor also plans to launch a Bitcoin-backed lending programme with Tether’s support, and recently acquired a 5% stake in Tether valued at $600 million.
Together, Atkins, Bessent, and Lutnick suggest a coming sea change in the government’s policy toward crypto.
Under Biden, regulators have been accused of attempting to push the industry offshore by dissuading banks from serving crypto clients and by effectively issuing new regulations via lawsuits — a tactic the industry has dubbed “regulation by enforcement.”
More than half of the crypto-related enforcement actions taken by the SEC since 2015 have come during Gensler’s three-year tenure, according to an analysis by crypto venture capital firm Paradigm.
“During Chair Gensler’s tenure, the agency brought actions against crypto intermediaries for fraud, wash trading, registration violations, and other misconduct,” a press release announcing his resignation plans said.
In the last fiscal year, “18 percent of the SEC’s tips, complaints, and referrals were crypto-related, despite the crypto markets comprising less than 1 percent of the U.S. capital markets,” the release added.
In 2016, The Wall Street Journal called Atkins “Trump’s point man on financial regulation” and someone who “favors a light touch.”
Aleks Gilbert is a DeFi correspondent based in New York. Have a tip? Contact him at aleks@dlnews.com.