by Jude Ayua
The US President-elect Donald J. Trump has named Paul Atkins as chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Trump announced his choice of Atkins in a post on his Truth Social platform on Wednesday, December 4, according to a New York Times report.
Who is Paul Atkins?
Atkins is a lawyer, conservative, and former SEC commissioner under President George W. Bush. He is renowned for his strong advocacy for lighter regulation of cryptocurrency and other digital assets, one issue that Trump emphasized during his campaign. As co-chair of the Token Alliance, which is part of the Digital Chamber of Commerce, Atkins has helped in drafting “best practices” for crypto trading platforms. He is also an advisory board member of Securitize, a digital asset firm that promotes digital tokens’ usage.
After completing his term as SEC commissioner in 2008, Atkins established a financial services consulting firm, Patomak Global Partners which advises banks and investment firms on regulation matters and compliance. Patomak has recently been advising clients on crypto- and digital assets-related matters. His work at Patomak is influential in the financial services space, and has gained reputation among former colleagues at the SEC. Tyler Gellasch, a former SEC attorney and the President and CEO of Healthy Markets Association, has described Atkins as the “godfather of Republican capital markets policy.”
Trump’s choice of Atkins as the US SEC chair shows his resolve to take a lighter regulatory approach toward cryptocurrencies than the current administration under the chair, Gary Gensler. In his post, Trump remarked, “Paul is a proven leader for common sense regulations. He … recognizes that digital assets & other innovations are crucial to Making America Greater than Ever Before.”
Regulatory crackdown under Gensler
The crypto industry has faced a heavy crackdown since Gensler’s term which drew criticism from Republicans in Congress. Although his five-year term lasts till June 2026, he announced in November that he would resign in January 2025 as Trump assumes office.
Individuals and firms are currently challenging numerous regulations enacted under Gensler. The SEC sued numerous crypto firms for allegedly violating Federal securities regulations. Among the SEC’s enforcement actions was against Coinbase, a top crypto exchange in the US, which was charged with violating securities law by failing to register as a broker and offering unregistered crypto assets for sale on its platform. Another notorious case is that of Ripple Labs, which is currently pending before the US Court of Appeal of the Second Circuit. The SEC sued Ripple in December 2020 for selling allegedly unregistered securities. Other actions included Green United, eToro, Immutable, and Binance.
Read also: Gary Gensler: The Imminent Resignation of the US SEC Chair and His Legacy.
Trump promised during his presidential campaign to end the Gensler-led SEC’s crackdown on crypto. “On day one, I will fire Gary Gensler and appoint a new SEC chairman,” Trump said at the Bitcoin 2024 conference in Nashville Tennessee.
The heavy criticism against Gensler for his aggressive crypto regulation approach consequently reduced the enforcement actions the SEC filed against crypto firms. The agency announced in November that it filed 26 percent fewer enforcement actions in the 2023/2024 fiscal year compared with the preceding fiscal year. Criticism from the crypto industry and legislators based on Gensler’s treatment of all crypto assets as securities. Most critics proposed crypto assets should be treated as either commodities or digital currencies which are outside the SEC’s regulatory purview.
Responses from the crypto industry and expectations
Crypto industry stakeholders spent millions of dollars during the 2024 presidential campaign to support crypto-friendly candidates who will soften regulations and possibly revert Gensler’s crackdowns. The president-elect’s transition team also sought advice from crypto executives on key regulatory appointments, including the SEC.
Trump’s announcement of Atkins as chair enthused industry stakeholders who heralded him as “pro-Bitcoin” chair who would be friendlier to the industry than Gensler. “A great day for crypto,” said Alexander Grieve, vice president of government affairs at Paradigm. Another industry executive, Greg Xethalis, said Atkin’s leadership promises to be “a dramatic change from the existing regime that acted to explicitly push crypto offshore.”
The SEC is expected to either take a hands-off approach to crypto or select which crypto assets to designate as securities and subject to regulation and enforcement actions. The new Trump administration’s friendly approach to crypto regulation may persuade the Republican-controlled Congress to pass a law that would remove most digital assets from the SEC’s jurisdiction. It is possible that the incoming chair may dismiss the pending enforcement cases or seek settlement with the firms involved including Ripple and Coinbase. Dennis Kelleher, CEO of Better Markets, said he expected the new SEC chair to dismiss not only the Coinbase lawsuit but all other active enforcement cases the SEC filed against crypto firms.
Read Also: Gary Gensler: The Imminent Resignation of the US SEC Chair and His Legacy
Jude Ayua is a policy analyst at CAB. A lawyer, Jude is an associate at Infusion Lawyers where he is a member of the Blockchain & Virtual Assets Group. He is also a member of the Policy & Regulations Committee of the Stakeholders in Blockchain Technology Association of Nigeria (SiBAN). Jude reports and writes on crypto policy and regulations. jude@infusionlawyers.com
