SEC Chair Paul Atkins unveils his vision for crypto regulation as the agency charts a friendlier approach to digital assets

New U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Paul Atkins announced a significant change in the agency’s approach to cryptocurrency regulation on Monday and outlined details involving issuance and custody as the agency takes on a “new day.”

President Donald Trump’s pick Atkins laid out those plans at the SEC’s fourth crypto task force roundtable as the agency takes a drastically different approach to regulating digital assets than under the prior administration.

“It is a new day at the SEC,” Atkins said. “Policymaking will no longer result from ad hoc enforcement actions. Instead, the Commission will utilize its existing rulemaking, interpretive, and exemptive authorities to set fit-for-purpose standards for market participants.”

Atkins, who is viewed as being supportive of crypto, has previously said he anticipates “huge benefits” from digital assets. He has also said he plans to work with lawmakers to create a supportive regulatory framework for crypto. That marks a departure from former SEC Chair Gary Gensler, who warned that crypto was “rife with fraud and manipulation” and had bad actors in the space. During his time leading the agency, the SEC brought several cases against large crypto firms, and many were later dropped after he left in January.

Atkins said on Monday that he plans to draft guidelines for assets that are securities or “subject to an investment contract.” Atkins criticized Gensler’s previous approach of calling on firms to visit the SEC and said the agency took on a “‘head-in-the-sand’ approach – perhaps hoping that crypto would go away.”

“It claimed that it was willing to talk to prospective registrants, ‘Just come in to visit,’ but this proved ephemeral at best and more often disingenuous because the SEC made no necessary adaptations to registration forms for this new technology,” he said.

Atkins also hinted that custody rules may need an update that would allow funds and advisers to take part in self-custody under certain conditions and revealed that the agency could take a new approach to its “special purpose broker-dealer framework.”

The SEC could also potentially look into whether to allow exemptive relief those looking to bring new products to the market, Atkins said.

“I would like to explore whether conditional exemptive relief would be appropriate for registrants and non-registrants that seek to bring new products and services to market that may otherwise not be compatible with current Commission rules and regulations,” he said.