Paul Atkins Confirmed as SEC Chair, Shifts Focus to Digital Assets

Paul Atkins has been confirmed as the new Chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) following a 52-44 vote in the United States Senate on April 9. The confirmation, backed solely by Senate Republicans, marks a significant shift from the enforcement-focused regulatory approach under the previous Chair, Gary Gensler.

Atkins, who previously served as an SEC Commissioner from 2002 to 2008, is expected to reshape the agency’s stance on digital assets. His appointment comes after a period of transition under Acting Chair Mark Uyeda, who has been overseeing the Commission since Gensler’s resignation in January. Uyeda’s brief tenure saw the dismissal of several crypto-related enforcement cases and the repeal of SAB 121, an internal rule that restricted crypto custody by public companies.

Atkins’ background includes leading Patomak Global Partners, a consultancy that advises financial and digital asset firms on compliance and risk strategy. He also headed the Token Alliance, a crypto advocacy group, and has significant holdings in crypto-related assets, with ethics filings indicating that he and his spouse possess up to $6 million in such assets.

Atkins’ confirmation represents a philosophical departure from Gensler’s tenure. While Gensler pursued over 100 crypto-related enforcement actions and viewed the space as speculative and noncompliant, Atkins advocates for a codified regulatory structure that supports digital asset innovation while maintaining investor protections through a principles-based approach. During his confirmation hearing, Atkins emphasized the need for a rational and coherent framework to address digital assets and expressed his intent to coordinate with the CFTC and Congress to address gaps in jurisdiction and rulemaking.

Under Uyeda, the SEC had already begun to reduce its regulatory pressure on the digital asset sector. This included issuing internal guidance to exclude several crypto asset classes from securities classification and assembling a task force to engage with industry stakeholders. These efforts are expected to continue and accelerate under Atkins’ leadership, with proposals circulating to establish safe harbor provisions for decentralized protocols and streamline compliance pathways. Several pending ETF applications for tokens like XRP and Solana, which were previously stalled, may now find a more receptive audience.

Atkins’ deregulatory orientation extends beyond digital assets to traditional markets as well. He has voiced support for reducing disclosure burdens and simplifying capital formation rules for private companies. During the confirmation process, he indicated an openness to revisiting accredited investor definitions, suggesting that financial sophistication, rather than net worth alone, should determine access to private markets.

Senate Banking Committee Chair Tim Scott welcomed Atkins’ appointment, stating that it would bring “regulatory clarity for digital assets.” Acting Chair Uyeda and two other Commissioners also issued a statement welcoming his return to the agency. However, Senator Elizabeth Warren criticized his Wall Street ties and pointed to his advisory connection with FTX as disqualifying.

The SEC, already facing staff reductions under broader federal downsizing initiatives, now faces the challenge of reorienting its regulatory playbook. Atkins will need to manage institutional continuity while executing an agenda that redefines crypto oversight, restructures enforcement priorities, and potentially reopens dialogues around self-regulatory organizations for digital markets. This leadership shift is a structural inflection point, potentially reshaping how capital markets interact with tokenized instruments.