The chairman of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Paul Atkins, recently expressed his commitment to pursuing crypto regulation and obtaining an exemption from innovation to maintain US leadership in digital financing, as stated in an interview with Fox Business.
Summary
- In an interview with Maria Bartiromo, Paul Atkins clarified that the SEC is preparing an exemption from innovation by the end of 2025.
- This exemption aims to enable crypto companies to launch their products without the fear of restrictive securities laws.
- Atkins emphasized that the SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) are working closely together to provide the market with a stable platform for introducing new products.
Atkins announced to Anchor Maria Bartiromo on September 23 that the SEC is collaborating with the CFTC to determine the distribution of responsibility between the agencies and provide market structure security.
Some projects, such as individual stocks, were previously “torpedoed” due to uncertainty about which agency should oversee them.
He explained that both agencies will focus on control creation in the coming months, and an exemption from innovation will be determined after the end of the year. The SEC chairman assured that this approach is not ad hoc:
“We try to give the market a stable platform on which you can introduce your products,” he said.
The exception aims to immediately allow crypto companies to launch their products, avoiding the early bureaucratic and regulatory stress that normally hinders projects.
Atkins’ Approach Compared to Gensler’s
During the Defi and American Spirit Roundtable in June, Atkins emphasized the need for a conditional framework for liberation to encourage developers.
In the meantime, the SEC is working on new rules, which Atkins argues will replace outdated securities laws applied to the crypto space.
The previous SEC chairman, Gary Gensler, treated various cryptocurrencies as non-registered securities. However, many US sector brands, including Coinbase, Strategy, Robinhood, Ripple, and Circle, have been affected by this approach.
Many crypto professionals insist that Gensler’s cautious approach has left the United States behind Europe and Great Britain in terms of access to cryptocurrency markets and services. For example, the Coinbase staking service is not available in five states.
For years, Americans have faced challenges in participating in airdrops, buying spot ETFs, perpetual futures, and tokenized securities, as well as accessing the largest crypto exchanges. This is not the case in Great Britain and Europe, where countries like Estonia have led the way in blockchain adoption at the national level, offering tokenized securities since 2019.
Revitalizing IPOs
Regarding plans not directly related to crypto, Atkins expressed his desire to “make IPOs great again.” He emphasized that ordinary investors need to diversify their portfolios, but this is not an easy task under current circumstances.
According to the SEC chairman, the number of public companies has decreased by 50% over the past 30 years. He explained that going public has become too stressful in terms of regulation, compliance, reporting, and other requirements, leading fewer companies to attempt to go public.
The fact that the best public companies are all technology companies increases the risk, and Atkins sees the solution in tightening and securing access for normal investors to private funds.
Overall, Atkins’ appearance on “Morning with Maria” showcased the SEC chairman’s efforts to enable crypto companies to regulate themselves and offer retail investors broader investment options.
For more information on the SEC’s regulatory work and joint CFTC roundtable, visit https://crypto.news/sec-chair-regulatory-work-ahead-joint-cftc-roundtable/
