Trump-Appointed Pro-Cryptocurrency Stance Paul Atkins, Official Inauguration As New SEC Chairman

On the 21st (local time), Paul Atkins officially took office as the 34th chairman of SEC (Source: SEC)

With Paul Atkins officially taking office as the 34th chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), expectations are growing that the SEC will move in a more favorable direction for the cryptocurrency industry.

The inauguration was somewhat delayed due to the Easter holiday and administrative procedures, but it was finalized on April 21st (local time) following President Trump's nomination and Senate confirmation (April 9th, 52-44 vote). Atkins has experience serving as an SEC commissioner from 2002 to 2008, and with this inauguration, he entered his second tenure at the SEC.

In his inaugural address, he said, “I am grateful for the trust of President Trump and the Senate,” and pledged to “faithfully carry out SEC's core mission of maintaining fair and orderly markets, protecting investors, and catalyzing capital formation.” He further emphasized, “I will make America the safest and most attractive investment destination in the world.”

The cryptocurrency industry is paying particular attention to this appointment. Atkins is evaluated as an individual who has shown a favorable stance towards the cryptocurrency industry, unlike his predecessor, Gary Gensler. It has been revealed that he recently invested up to $6 million in cryptocurrency custody platform Anchorage Digital and blockchain-based tokenization company Securitize.

Amidst this background, expectations are growing that Atkins may pursue regulatory relaxation on major issues such as ETF approval delays and the Ripple lawsuit. Especially, the recent suspension of investigations and sanctions on Coinbase, Uniswap, Gemini, ConsenSys, etc., carried out under the Gensler administration, is interpreted as a signal of a new policy direction.

Until now, the SEC has been grappling with complex tasks such as DeFi (Decentralized Finance), stablecoin, and securities determination issues. Under the Atkins administration, the issue of approving Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs related to institutional investor inflow is expected to be an initial test.

The SEC attempted to improve relations with the industry by launching a ‘Crypto Taskforce’ earlier this year, and this appointment is also evaluated as an extension of that attempt. Some analysts suggest that Atkins is the right person to mediate the balance between traditional finance and the digital asset industry.

The market is closely watching whether his leadership will be able to shift the SEC's policy stance from regulation-focused to fostering-focused.