The most anticipated question of who could be the next SEC Chair has finally come to an end, as President-elect Donald Trump in his latest Truth social post noted that he officially nominates Paul Atkins as the next SEC Chair.
“I am delighted to announce the nomination of Paul Atkins to be the next Chairman of the Securities & Exchange Commission,” he noted.
“The Proven Leader”
Trump reinforced his belief in Paul noting that he is a proven leader for “common sense” regulations. He believes in the promise of robust, innovative capital markets that are responsive to the needs of investors & that provide capital to make our economy the best in the World. He also noted that Atkins recognizes that digital assets & other innovations are crucial to ‘Making America Greater than Ever Before.’
Trump who once disapproved crypto, has now completely changed his stance, known to be a pro-crypto President has now called for a strategic national Bitcoin reserve, and has also promised to make the U.S. a “world capital” for crypto and establish a crypto advisory council.
“Crypto is one of those things we have to do,” Trump said in September as he formally launched the World Liberty Financial project. “Whether we like it or not, I have to do it.”
The Pro-Crypto SEC Chair
Atkins was previously an SEC commissioner from 2002 to 2008, during the George W. Bush administration, and is expected to be much more amicable towards cryptocurrency interests than President Joe Biden’s SEC Chairman, Gary Gensler, who has been staunchly criticised for his hostile take on crypto and is all set to resign on January 20.
Notably, Paul is the CEO & Founder of Patomak Global Partners, a risk management consultancy. As Co-Chairman of the Digital Chamber’s Token Alliance since 2017, he has worked on & studied the digital assets industry. Paul has strongly advocated for transparency & protecting investors.
Mr. Atkins has been playing an active role in helping to draft “best practices” for crypto trading platforms as co-chair of the Token Alliance, which is part of the Digital Chamber of Commerce. He is also on the advisory board for Securitize, a digital asset firm that promotes the use of digital tokens. Notably, his nomination will need Senate confirmation. If the Senate confirms Atkins as expected, it will mark the start of a new era at the SEC, that will deviate significantly from Gensler’s reign.
As per a Fox Business. report, Chris Giancarlo, the former head of the CFTC noted:
“President-elect Trump has made a superb choice in SEC Chair. Paul Atkins is widely known for his professional integrity and intelligence. As a former Commissioner, he has enormous knowledge and respect for the agency. He will encourage technological innovation, crypto and digital finance after years of regulatory hostility. I am certain that Paul Atkins will return the SEC to its historic role in enabling capital formation and American economic growth.”
