{"id":846817,"date":"2025-05-08T19:12:00","date_gmt":"2025-05-09T00:12:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/08\/paul-atkins-officially-sworn-into-office-as-sec-chairman\/"},"modified":"2025-05-08T19:12:00","modified_gmt":"2025-05-09T00:12:00","slug":"paul-atkins-officially-sworn-into-office-as-sec-chairman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/08\/paul-atkins-officially-sworn-into-office-as-sec-chairman\/","title":{"rendered":"Paul Atkins officially sworn into office as SEC chairman"},"content":{"rendered":"
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  7. Paul Atkins officially sworn into office as SEC chairman<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n

    The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced<\/a>\u00a0that\u00a0Paul Atkins\u00a0was officially sworn into office as the 34th chairman of the commission.<\/p>\n

    Atkins, a vocal supporter of the digital asset<\/a>\u00a0space, was nominated by President Donald Trump on January 20, 2025, and confirmed by the U.S. Senate on April 9, 2025.<\/p>\n

    \u201cI am honored by the trust and confidence President Trump and the Senate have placed in me to lead the SEC,\u201d said Atkins. \u201cAs I return to the SEC, I am pleased to join with my fellow Commissioners and the agency\u2019s dedicated professionals to advance its mission to facilitate capital formation; maintain fair, orderly, and efficient markets; and protect investors. Together, we will work to ensure that the U.S. is the best and most secure place in the world to invest and do business.\u201d<\/p>\n

    The new SEC chairman is expected to continue efforts underway at the regulator to establish a clear regulatory framework for digital asset oversight<\/a>, in line with President Trump\u2019s pro-crypto agenda.<\/p>\n

    Trump first indicated<\/a>\u00a0that Atkins was his preferred choice for SEC chairman in December 2024.<\/p>\n

    \u201cAs Co-Chairman of the Digital Chamber\u2019s Token Alliance since 2017, he has worked on & studied the digital assets industry. A former SEC Commissioner from 2002-2008, Paul\u00a0strongly advocated for transparency & protecting investors,\u201d wrote Trump, in a post on\u00a0Truth Social<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    He added that Atkins \u201crecognizes that digital assets & other innovations are crucial to Making America Greater than Ever Before.\u201d<\/p>\n

    Atkins was appointed by former President George W. Bush as SEC commissioner from 2002-2008. Before returning to the SEC, he was most recently chief executive of Patomak Global Partners, a strategy, risk management, and compliance consultancy he founded in 2009.<\/p>\n

    Monday\u2019s SEC announcement also noted that in his previous position, Atkins had \u201chelped lead efforts to develop best practices for the digital asset sector.\u201d<\/p>\n

    During a Senate Banking Committee hearing in March, Atkins said a \u201ctop priority\u201d of his chairmanship would be to provide a \u201cfirm regulatory foundation for digital assets through a rational, coherent and principled approach.\u201d<\/p>\n

    This marks a clear divergence from former Chairman Gary Gensler\u2019s \u2018regulation-by-enforcement\u2019 approach<\/a>, which Atkins referred to as \u201cdisturbing.\u201d<\/p>\n

    Gensler, who retired in January, frequently asserted that the digital asset space was \u201crife\u201d with fraud and mismanagement and that current securities laws<\/a>\u00a0were perfectly sufficient to regulate the industry. For this reason, the former chairman divided opinion in Washington D.C., with critics\u2014largely Republicans\u2014accusing him of being overly heavy-handed and stifling innovation.<\/p>\n

    Since Gensler\u2019s retirement<\/a>, the SEC has been under the temporary stewardship of Acting Chair Mark Uyeda, a Republican member of the SEC, who had previously called<\/a>\u00a0Gensler\u2019s reign a \u201cdisaster for the whole industry.\u201d<\/p>\n

    The pro-crypto SEC<\/strong><\/p>\n

    During his brief spell in charge of the SEC, Uyeda wasted no time remolding the agency in President Trump\u2019s image.<\/p>\n

    \n

    One of Uyeda\u2019s first acts was to remove<\/a>\u00a0the agency\u2019s controversial staff accounting bulletin 121 (SAB 121).<\/p>\n

    SAB 121<\/a>\u00a0was released<\/a>\u00a0in March 2022 as a policy guideline, outlining how virtual asset service providers (VASPs) must handle accounting for digital assets and putting additional capital requirements on banks wanting to handle digital assets for clients. It contained strict guidelines for institutions looking to custody digital assets, including the requirement that VASPs maintain their users\u2019 digital asset holdings on their own balance sheets.\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    In January, shortly after taking up his temporary position, Uyeda published<\/a>\u00a0a new staff accounting bulletin, SAB 122, rescinding this previous guidance.<\/p>\n

    Further changes followed soon afterward. On March 10, at the 2025 Annual Washington Conference of the Institute of International Bankers, Uyeda said he had asked SEC staff<\/a>\u00a0\u201cfor options on abandoning\u201d part of a proposed rule change that could force some digital asset firms to register with the regulator as exchanges. A week later, on March 17, Uyeda announced<\/a>\u00a0that he had asked staff to consider dropping a Biden-era proposal to tighten digital asset custody requirements.<\/p>\n

    On top of these policy moves, on January 21, Uyeda also launched<\/a>\u00a0the SEC\u2019s new \u2018Crypto Task Force,\u2019 led by Commissioner Hester \u201cCrypto Mom<\/a>\u201d Peirce\u2014as the moniker suggests\u2014a fellow crypto-advocate.<\/p>\n

    The task force is in the process of holding a series of roundtables<\/a>\u00a0with industry advocates and commentators to help flesh out a clear framework for digital asset oversight. Thus far, the indication<\/a>\u00a0has been that the agency is shaping up for a distinctly pro-innovation approach to enforcement.<\/p>\n

    All these actions clearly signaled a move toward President Trump\u2019s pro-crypto stance<\/a>, and based on his previous comments\u2014as well as Trump\u2019s endorsement\u2014it\u2019s expected that Atkins will continue to steer the SEC in this direction.<\/p>\n

    Partisan popularity<\/strong><\/p>\n

    While it\u2019s almost certain that Atkins\u2019 stewardship of the SEC and approach to digital asset oversight will diverge significantly from that of his predecessor, Gensler, one thing the two chairmen share is the ability to divide opinion.<\/p>\n

    Atkins\u2019 nomination was not met with universal approval, with some noting it as a characteristically pro-digital asset choice and a move away from the consumer protection focus that characterized Gensler\u2019s reign.<\/p>\n

    Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), ranking member of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, highlighted<\/a>\u00a0Atkins\u2019 questionable record in the finance space, saying she was: \u201cConcerned about putting at the helm of the SEC a Wall Street lobbyist whose main contribution during the last financial crisis was to protest fines against the giant corporations that defrauded investors.\u201d<\/p>\n

    However, others were more optimistic, suggesting that Atkins does understand the need for controls.<\/p>\n

    \u201cIt\u2019s a good choice. It\u2019s a relief. I think he\u2019s very solid philosophically,\u201d said Sheila Bair, former Chair of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and former Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Treasury for Financial Institutions, in a December 4 interview<\/a>\u00a0with news commentary show Market Domination.<\/p>\n

    Blair went on to suggest that, despite Atkins being \u201cvery in line with the president-elect,\u201d he is also \u201ca seasoned hand\u201d and \u201cunderstands the need for regulation.\u201d<\/p>\n

    Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) also voiced support, telling Politico<\/a>\u00a0in December\u00a0that the prospective\u2014at the time\u2014SEC chairman \u201chas the right experience, and I think he\u2019s a commissioner that would work well with Congress.\u201d<\/p>\n

    As Atkins now takes his seat at the head of the Securities watchdog in the midst of a significant shake-up and shift in policy for the regulator, this optimistic prediction will soon be put to the test.<\/p>\n

    Watch:\u00a0Breaking down solutions to blockchain regulation hurdles<\/p>\n