The new sheriff in town at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Paul Atkins, just laid down the law.

He’s not here to keep swinging the big enforcement hammer like his predecessor. No, sir.

Atkins is talking about a new day”at the SEC, where clear rules replace the ad hoc crackdowns. He wants the U.S. to be the crypto capital of the planet. Sounds ambitious? You bet.

Keeping up with the industry

At a recent SEC crypto roundtable, the third of four, mind you, Atkins kicked things off by saying securities are moving from dusty old off-chain databases onto shiny blockchain ledgers.

This is like a revolution, like when music went digital and changed the game forever.

He sees blockchain shaking up securities markets with faster trades, more liquidity, and automation that could make Wall Street jealous.

The hot topics? Issuance, custody, and trading of crypto assets. Atkins admitted that few crypto tokens have gone through proper registered offerings, but he’s keen on fixing that.

Expect clearer guidelines and maybe some new exemptions to make life easier for token issuers.

On custody, he’s eyeing ways to loosen up the qualified custodian rules, maybe even letting people hold their own keys without the SEC breathing down their necks.

If only we have a permissionless decentralized monetary network that the SEC can’t f*ck with, right? Anyway, trading?

Atkins is all for super apps that mix securities and crypto trades, plus modernizing the old-school Alternative Trading System rules.

American Spirit

Atkins didn’t hold back on the SEC’s past. He called the previous head-in-the-sand approach a joke, hoping crypto would just disappear.

Then came the shoot-first-ask-questions-later enforcement blitz under Gary Gensler, which, let’s be honest, scared off innovation and sent crypto firms packing overseas.

He also pointed out the absurdity of trying to jam crypto into outdated forms like the S-1 registration, a square peg in a round hole, he said. Innovation doesn’t thrive under those conditions.

Atkins, who took the reins in April, is eager to work with the Trump administration and Congress to make the U.S. the prime playground for crypto.

The final roundtable, titled “DeFi and the American Spirit,” is set for June 9, and you better believe it’ll be a showdown.

Rules

Just this month, the SEC settled a five-year legal battle with Ripple for $50 million, closing a chapter that started under the old regime’s war on crypto. It’s like a fresh air for the whole industry.

And now, the SEC’s shifting gears from hammer to handshake, working for clear rules and innovation-friendly policies.

But don’t get too cozy, enforcement isn’t going away. It’s just getting smarter, cleaner, and maybe a little sassier.

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