Paul Atkins, a former Wall Street consultant and crypto supporter, has been confirmed as the new chair for the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), winning the vote 52 to 44 in the Senate. The SEC welcomed the decision and said Atkins was a veteran of the agency and would make a good chairman, representing the investment community well.
President Trump nominated Atkins, reasoning that the Wall Street veteran would bring a common-sense approach to the SEC, with a focus on innovative markets that take into consideration the needs of investors, and have the focus of strengthening the American economy. Atkins is no stranger to the SEC, serving as the SEC’s commissioner from 2002 to 2008. The main role of the SEC is to create laws that stop market manipulation.
Mark Uyeda has been the acting head of the SEC up until now. Uyeda has been a familiar name regarding crypto news because he has softened the SEC’s treatment of crypto businesses. One of the highlights of his tenure was the settlement of the Ripple case, giving ample room for the token to focus on business innovations rather than wasting time with lawsuits.
Atkins supports market-driven innovation and thus takes a favourable view of the crypto sector. There was once much speculation as to whether Wall Street would embrace cryptocurrency. With the appointment of a pro-crypto SEC chair, it seems that the establishment is finally accepting blockchain as a groundbreaking financial innovation, at least on par with, but far exceeding, the futures market. The crypto community anticipates a fast-track process for crypto ETFs linked to Ripple, Solana, and Dogecoin.
The Senate confirmed Atkins as the new SEC chair, a necessary process that allows lawmakers to scrutinize the nominee and analyse records and policy views. Atkins now has full authority to govern America’s capital markets, with access to the President, support of the SEC department, and the ability to enforce financial laws that are friendly towards crypto. The DOJ recently published a paper advocating the concept of ending regulation through prosecution. Atkins, through the SEC, may adopt a similar policy, in line with his views on market-driven innovation.
Atkins served as SEC commissioner under President George W. Bush, between the years 2002 and 2008. Atkins was the founder of Patomak Global Partners, which now serves banking and crypto clients. Atkins reportedly owned $6 million worth of cryptocurrencies. Opposition leaders suggest that this is a conflict of interest. He aims to create a regulatory framework for crypto that forms a solid foundation for generations to come. He also wishes to reverse many of the damaging policies created under previous SEC chair Gary Gensler.
GameStop marked a critical juncture for the SEC under Gensler because many traders felt that the agency was dedicated to persecuting small-time players while larger banks were given a free pass to do whatever they wanted to do. Examples of this hypocrisy include opaque short-selling practices and predatory hedge fund businesses. Traders are looking to Atkins, particularly crypto traders, to promote transparency and fairness in the American markets. However, despite the broad-based corruption during the last administration, Bitcoin proved to be resilient, possibly because blockchain was designed to withstand American corruption.
Senator Elizabeth Warren pointed out that Atkins supported deregulation before the 2008 financial crisis. The Senate nomination of Atkins barely survived a 13 to 11 vote in favour of his appointment. This vote allowed for the final vote to occur, which also barely survived opposition votes.
The Wall Street Journal pointed out that FTX, the disgraced crypto exchange, was a client of Patomak Global Partners, an Atkins company. Senator Elizabeth Warren has seized on this fact and claimed that Atkins has spent his career helping billionaire scammers like Sam Bankman-Fried to get wealthy.
