Trump announces crypto-friendly Paul Atkins to head the SEC

[Simone Del Rosario]

President-elect Donald Trump just tapped a crypto-friendly face to chair the Securities and Exchange Commission, fulfilling a promise he made to the cryptocurrency community.

Paul Atkins served as an SEC commissioner under President George W. Bush. And in the early 90s he was on the staff of two former SEC chairs, Richard Breeden, a Republican and Arthur Levitt, a Democrat.

Atkins founded Patomak Global Partners which advises banks and investment firms on regulation and compliance.

Trump said in a Truth Social post Wednesday, “Paul is a proven leader for common sense regulations … He also recognizes that digital assets & other innovations are crucial to Making America Greater than Ever Before.”

In recent years, Patomak started advising clients on cryptocurrency-related issues.

Atkins is generally seen as a crypto advocate who is in favor of looser regulation in the space. As co-chair of the Digital Chamber of Commerce’s Token Alliance, Atkins helped draft best practices for crypto trading platforms.

Trump embraced cryptocurrency in the last few months of the election, giving a keynote address at Bitcoin2024. During that speech, he promised to fire current SEC chair Gary Gensler and get someone more friendly to Bitcoin in the seat.

Donald Trump:

On day one I will fire Gary Gensler and hire a new SEC chairman. I didn’t know he was that unpopular.

Simone Del Rosario:

Gensler announced he would step down from his role the day Trump is inaugurated.

The biggest criticism of Gensler regulating crypto has been that he treats it as a security. Instead, crypto advocates say it should be treated as a commodity or digital currency and out of the purview of the SEC.

A high profile example of Gensler’s regulatory actions against crypto is a case against crypto exchange Coinbase. The SEC accused the exchange of failing to register as a securities broker and allowing unregistered assets to be sold on the platform.

In an email to Straight Arrow News, former Commodity Futures Trading Commission chair Chris Giancarlo – who works with Atkins on the Token Alliance – says “Atkins’ engagement with crypto goes back many years as an advocate for blockchain and digital assets. As SEC Chairman, he will embrace technological innovation, including digital network finance, after years of SEC hostility and regulation by enforcement. Paul Atkins will return the SEC to its proper role in enabling capital formation and powering American economic growth.”

Atkins appointment will require confirmation by the U.S. Senate before he can serve in the role.