Paul Atkins has officially been sworn in as the 34th Chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), marking a potential turning point in the agency’s approach to crypto regulation. The announcement was made on April 21, nearly two weeks after the U.S. Senate confirmed his appointment with a 52-44 vote on April 9.
“I am honored by the trust and confidence President Trump and the Senate have placed in me to lead the SEC,” said Atkins, who previously served as an SEC commissioner from 2002 to 2008.
A Crypto-Friendly Shift After Gensler
Atkins is expected to steer the SEC in a more crypto-friendly direction, a stark contrast to his predecessor Gary Gensler under the Biden administration. The transition comes as the SEC begins unwinding some of the more aggressive enforcement actions previously levied against major crypto players like Coinbase, Consensys, Gemini, and Uniswap.
The new chairman replaces acting chair Mark Uyeda, who earlier this year established a Crypto Task Force aimed at improving dialogue between the SEC and the digital asset industry.
Atkins’ confirmation faced delays due to pending financial disclosures following his marriage into a billionaire family. Among the disclosures were up to $6 million in crypto-related investments, including stakes in Anchorage Digital, a crypto custody platform, and Securitize, a blockchain tokenization platform.
Over 70 Crypto ETF Filings Await SEC Review
The crypto industry will be watching closely as the Atkins-led SEC considers over 70 crypto-related exchange-traded fund (ETF) applications this year, according to Bloomberg. These include products tied to assets like XRP, Litecoin, Solana, Dogecoin, and even meme tokens like “2x Melania.”
“Everything from XRP, Litecoin and Solana to Penguins, Doge and 2x Melania and everything in between,” wrote Bloomberg ETF analyst James Balchunas on X (formerly Twitter).
His colleague James Seyffart characterized the flood of filings as a “spaghetti cannon approach,” suggesting issuers are testing which offerings might stick under the new leadership.
Industry Eyes Policy Pivot
Atkins emphasized collaboration and market integrity in his statement, saying the SEC will work to ensure “the U.S. is the best and most secure place in the world to invest and do business.”
With a backlog of crypto ETF filings and a growing appetite for regulatory clarity, the crypto industry is closely monitoring how Atkins will balance innovation with investor protection.
