‘I Expect Huge Benefits from This Market Innovation’: New SEC Chair Signals Crypto Policy Shift in New Speech

It’s the dawn of a new crypto era for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

New SEC Chair Paul Atkins, who was sworn in this week, spoke at the regulator’s third “Crypto Task Force” roundtable on Friday and talked up the potential of digital assets.

He also lambasted the SEC’s previous regulatory approach toward the sector.

“This is important work as entrepreneurs across the United States are harnessing blockchain technology to modernize aspects of our financial system. I expect huge benefits from this market innovation for efficiency, cost reduction, transparency, and risk mitigation. Market participants engaging with this technology deserve clear regulatory rules of the road. Innovation has been stifled for the last several years due to market and regulatory uncertainty that unfortunately the SEC has fostered.”

His language represents a stark contrast to the approach of previous chair Gary Gensler, who oversaw high-profile enforcement actions against numerous crypto firms, including industry giants Binance, Kraken, Coinbase, Ripple Labs, Uniswap Labs and Consensys. Since Gensler stepped down in January, all of those cases have been closed.

Atkins also asked crypto stakeholders on Friday for input on the challenges of existing securities laws.

“For example, are changes needed to the custody rules under the Exchange Act, Advisers Act, or Investment Company Act to accommodate crypto assets and blockchain technology? Is the ‘special purpose broker-dealer’ regime workable for market participants, or is a new crypto asset broker-dealer framework needed? The market itself seems to indicate that the current framework badly needs attention.” 

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