48 hours after the new chairman took office, the SEC has become a crypto dad
Blockchain editor
On April 10, 2025, the SEC welcomed its new chairman, Paul Atkins. The leader nominated by President Trump and confirmed by the Senate by 52 votes to 44 stated that he would make the establishment of a digital asset regulatory framework a "top priority" upon taking office, and promised to build a transparent SEC, widely absorb the opinions of the industry and consumers, and completely change the closed and high-pressure regulatory style of the past. Paul Atkins quickly became the focus of attention in the crypto industry, and within 48 hours of his term, regulatory benefits continued. Many crypto-related lawsuits during the term of the former SEC Chairman Gary Gensler were withdrawn, the SEC issued a statement urging the disclosure of details when issuing cryptocurrencies, and personally guided the project parties on how to issue coins. Such intensive actions also made people curious: Is Trump's SEC going to be the "nanny" of the crypto industry?
The new SEC chairman took office and brought frequent benefits
Paul Atkins is not a new face in the SEC, but also an old player in crypto. As early as 2002 to 2008, he served as a SEC commissioner and accumulated rich regulatory experience. Since then, he founded Patomak Global Partners to provide compliance and risk strategy consulting to financial and digital asset companies, including crypto exchanges and DeFi platforms. He also led the crypto advocacy organization Token Alliance and publicly supported digital asset innovation. It was disclosed that he and his spouse held crypto-related assets of up to $6 million.
On April 9, 2025, the Senate confirmed Atkins' nomination with the unanimous support of the Republicans, marking a major shift in the SEC from the enforcement-first style of former Chairman Gary Gensler to a pro-market orientation. Gensler initiated more than 100 crypto-related enforcement actions during his tenure, emphasizing that most tokens fall under the jurisdiction of securities laws and are skeptical of the industry. Atkins advocates providing clear and feasible rules for digital assets through a principle-based regulatory framework. At a Senate Banking Committee hearing on March 28, he made it clear that digital assets are the SEC's top priority this year, promising to work with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and Congress to fill regulatory gaps and unleash the United States' global competitiveness in the field of Bitcoin and blockchain finance.
Atkins succeeds Mark Uyeda, who has served as acting chairman since Gensler resigned in January. Under Trump's "crypto-friendly" administration, Uyeda's short tenure has paved the way for the SEC's transformation, such as withdrawing a number of crypto-related enforcement cases and abolishing SAB 121, an internal rule that restricts the custody of crypto assets by listed companies. Atkins' appointment has accelerated the trend of regulatory deregulation. His term will last until June 2026. In more than a year, he may promote important changes in the crypto regulatory policy framework.
Atkins' "first fire" is directed at the financial market. Atkins' pro-market stance has injected a shot in the arm for the financialization of crypto assets. On his first day in office, April 10, the SEC approved options trading for the spot Ethereum ETF, a milestone that provides investors with more channels for participation. In addition, Atkins supports simplifying private market rules and proposes to define qualified investors by financial sophistication rather than net assets, which may further lower the threshold for crypto investment.
The "second fire" gives future regulatory guidance. On the second day of his inauguration, the SEC issued a non-binding guidance, stating: "These issuances and registrations may involve issuer equity or debt securities related to networks, applications and/or crypto assets. These issuances and registrations may also involve crypto assets that are part of or subject to investment contracts (such crypto assets are called "underlying crypto assets")." Companies that issue or deal with tokens that may be considered securities are urged to provide detailed disclosures, including business content, token roles, network development milestones, and rights of token holders. Although it is still unclear which cryptocurrencies are securities, it attempts to provide a clearer reference framework for the industry based on the SEC's observations of existing company disclosures. Such detailed "guidance on the way out" can also reflect the SEC's shift from "penalty instead of regulation" to "guidance instead of regulation", hoping to reduce market uncertainty through communication and transparency, so that the industry will not be on the edge of danger and can only test repeatedly.
The "third fire" melted the "difficult and complicated cases" frozen during Gary Gensler's tenure, and the SEC showed a more relaxed attitude towards past crypto lawsuits. On April 11, Helium network developer Nova Labs announced that the SEC withdrew its charges of selling unregistered securities. Previously, the SEC had filed a lawsuit against Nova Labs' three tokens - HNT, MOBILE and IoT. With Atkins' appointment, the lawsuit quietly ended, setting a positive precedent for similar projects. On the same day, the SEC and Ripple also reached a settlement in their long-term lawsuit. The two parties submitted a joint motion to suspend the appeal, Ripple paid a $50 million fine, and the remaining $75 million was returned to the company.
In addition, to promote regulatory clarity, the SEC Cryptocurrency Working Group plans to hold four public roundtables from April to June 2025, covering topics such as crypto trading, custody, asset tokenization, and DeFi. Commissioner Hester Peirce called this a "spring sprint to crypto clarity," marking the SEC's shift from confrontation to cooperation. The first meeting will focus on "tailoring regulation for crypto trading" on April 11, and subsequent meetings will explore the integration of traditional finance and blockchain and DeFi and the American spirit.
What other tricks does the "crypto dad" have?
Atkins' intensive actions after taking office are inseparable from the overall policy background of the Trump administration, which is highly consistent with crypto policies.
After Trump returned to the White House, policies were frequently relaxed. First of all, the progress of crypto ETF approval is impressive. ETF applications such as XRP and Solana, which were previously blocked by Gensler's tough attitude, are now more relaxed within the SEC. The industry expects that multiple ETFs will be approved in 2025, significantly improving market liquidity. Secondly, the return of market makers such as Citadel Securities and Wintermute has promoted the overall improvement of the market in terms of liquidity, trading efficiency and regulatory compliance. At the same time, stablecoin legislation is also advancing rapidly. Trump has publicly supported stablecoins many times to increase the demand for US Treasury bonds, help the digital hegemony of the US dollar, and consolidate the global dominance of the US dollar. In April, the Senate Banking Committee passed the GENIUS Act proposed by Republican Senator Bill Hagerty, which sets licensing, reserve and disclosure requirements for the issuance of stablecoins and provides a lightweight regulatory framework. Atkins said that the SEC will coordinate with the CFTC to clarify the securities and commodity attributes of stablecoins, and support state-level regulatory exemptions for stablecoins with a market value of less than US$10 billion to encourage innovation.
Not only that, just today, Trump also signed a bill to repeal the US Internal Revenue Service's broker rules for DeFi platforms, clearing the way for the development of DeFi. This rule, introduced in 2024, once classified DeFi platforms as brokers and required them to submit tax forms for users, which caused widespread dissatisfaction in the industry. When signing the bill, Trump said the rule "hinders American innovation" and "violates the privacy of ordinary Americans." This is the first cryptocurrency-related law signed by the Trump administration, and it can be seen again that from nominating a pro-market SEC chairman to abolishing restrictive rules, the Trump administration is working to create a relaxed environment for the digital asset industry and strive to build the United States into a global digital financial center.
Under Trump's leadership, the federal government seems to be forming a more relaxed crypto policy atmosphere, and the SEC seems to have shifted from "regulatory iron fist" to "crypto daddy." With the approval of multiple crypto ETFs, the withdrawal of years of litigation, the return of multiple market makers, and the abolition of DeFi broker rules, the Trump administration is trying to stimulate industry growth by reducing regulatory barriers. However, this policy shift has also raised some concerns. Senator Elizabeth Warren criticized Atkins for his association with Wall Street and FTX consultants, believing that his background may undermine regulatory fairness. Critics also believe that overly loose regulation may lead to market chaos and even increase investor risks.
It is necessary to strictly regulate market order while protecting industry innovation and growth. In the future, whether this "crypto dad" can find a balance between innovation and protection and achieve the global status of the US digital asset market will take time to test. It is foreseeable that with the support of the Trump administration, the SEC's encryption policy will continue to be the focus of global attention, and the future of the US digital asset market may start to write a new chapter from here.
