Who is Paul Atkins, the popular candidate for SEC Chairman?

Author: Golden Finance

Former SEC Commissioner Paul Atkins has emerged as the leading candidate to become the chairman of the agency under President-elect Trump's new administration.

According to financial journalist Eleanor Terrett's post on X, Atkins is known for his pro-innovation stance and expertise in cryptocurrency, and he is said to have the ability to "restore the so-called 'gold standard' to the agency."

After Gary Gensler's resignation in January 2025, Atkins will become the SEC chairman, which means U.S. cryptocurrency regulation may help promote innovation rather than hinder it.

(Former SEC Commissioner Paul Atkins)

1. Who is Atkins?

Atkins was born in Lillington, North Carolina, and grew up in Tampa, Florida. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Wofford College in 1980 and is a member of Phi Beta Kappa and Kappa Alpha Order.

Atkins began his career as an attorney at the New York City law firm Davis Polk & Wardwell, primarily handling various corporate transactions for U.S. and foreign clients, including public and private securities offerings and mergers and acquisitions. He worked for two and a half years in the firm's Paris office and obtained his French legal advisor qualification in 1988.

Before being appointed as a commissioner, Atkins assisted financial services companies in improving compliance with SEC regulations and worked with law enforcement agencies to investigate and rectify situations where investors were harmed. Notably, he was involved with Bennett Funding Group, Inc., a $1 billion leasing company that committed the largest "Ponzi" fraud in U.S. history at the time. Over 20,000 investors lost most of their investments. According to Atkins' biography at the SEC, he assisted the court-appointed bankruptcy trustee for the company and served as the crisis president of Bennett's only surviving subsidiary. By stabilizing finances and operations and rebuilding and expanding the business, he increased the stock value for remaining investors by nearly 2000%.

From 1990 to 1994, Atkins served as a staff member for the first two SEC chairmen, Richard C. Breeden and Arthur Levitt. Under Chairman Breeden, he helped improve corporate governance regulations, enhance shareholder communication, strengthen management accountability through proxy reforms, and lower the barriers for small and medium-sized enterprises to access capital markets. Under Chairman Levitt, he was responsible for organizing the SEC's individual investor program, including the first investor town hall meetings and the SEC's Consumer Affairs Advisory Committee.

Atkins served as an SEC commissioner from July 9, 2002, until the end of his term in August 2008. He worked alongside Chairmen Harvey Pitt, William H. Donaldson, and Christopher Cox.

In December 2016, Atkins participated in a business forum organized by President-elect Trump, providing strategic and policy advice on economic issues.

2. Atkins' Image as a Defender of Digital Assets

Atkins served as a Republican SEC commissioner during the George W. Bush administration and later founded Patomak Global Partners, a consulting firm for major financial industry clients.

He is a staunch supporter of digital assets and fintech companies. He has also testified before Congress about how to restructure the agency's operations and reduce what some industry insiders consider redundant or overly burdensome regulations.

The industry has often criticized the SEC under Gensler for making regulations through enforcement rather than clarifying how to comply with the rules, and this approach may change with Trump's return to office. He has promised supporters that he will establish a strategic Bitcoin reserve, appoint crypto-friendly regulators, and end the outgoing administration's "anti-crypto campaign."

Under new leadership, the SEC is expected to continue focusing on what is viewed as its core mission: rooting out fraud, combating insider trading, preventing Ponzi schemes, and curbing inaccurate, misleading, or overly exaggerated disclosures.

Atkins' leadership is expected to provide a more innovation-friendly environment for U.S. cryptocurrency regulation, potentially reversing what critics call the current SEC leadership's overreach.

3. New Crypto Direction Under the Trump Administration

• Trump is considering transferring regulatory authority over cryptocurrencies and cryptocurrency exchanges from the SEC to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Under SEC oversight, Bitcoin is classified as a commodity, and in the future, under CFTC leadership, Bitcoin will move towards a more innovative outlook. Previously, under former CFTC Chairman Chris Giancarlo, the agency established itself as an innovation advocate when it approved Bitcoin back in 2017. Giancarlo stated, "With sufficient funding and the right leadership, I believe the CFTC can begin regulating digital commodities on the first day of Trump's presidency."

• As of November 23 local time, all cabinet minister candidates for Trump's new administration have been confirmed, and in addition, Trump has nominated several high-level officials in recent weeks. From the new administration's list, besides familiar names in the crypto market like Musk and Howard Lutnick, several cabinet officials are staunch supporters of cryptocurrencies and have publicly disclosed their cryptocurrency holdings, including the nominated Vice President, Secretary of the Treasury, Secretary of Commerce, Secretary of Health and Human Services, and Director of National Intelligence.

  Galaxy CEO Michael Novogratz stated in an interview with CNBC that nearly all of President-elect Trump's cabinet members hold Bitcoin and are strong supporters of digital assets. He pointed out that these members support innovation, digital assets, and Bitcoin itself. Novogratz also mentioned that he would not be surprised if cryptocurrency prices rise further. The market is in a price discovery phase with limited supply.

• VanEck analysts believe that given Trump's strong support for Bitcoin and focus on repatriation and supply chains, El Salvador could become a strategic partner for the U.S. in establishing a regional alliance.

4. Predictions on Whether Trump's Administration Will Favor the Crypto Industry

Bullish Voices:

• Galaxy expects that the active trading of BlackRock's IBIT ETF options will continue until January 2027, roughly half of Donald Trump's presidency, reflecting investors' confidence in the long-term growth potential of Bitcoin ETFs and signaling bullish sentiment for the coming years.

• Maruf Yusupov, co-founder of Deenar, stated that the rapid rise of Bitcoin following Trump's victory in the U.S. election may be reshaping traditional views on inflation hedging. Trump's focus on tax cuts, tariffs, and cryptocurrencies is driving interest in Bitcoin as a modern alternative to gold. With accelerated institutional adoption, a significant shift of capital from gold to digital assets may be observed. Nigel Green, CEO of deVere Group, also noted that Bitcoin is increasingly seen as a tool for hedging against inflation and diversifying portfolios, with institutional interest reaching historic highs and the infrastructure supporting widespread adoption continuously expanding. Fadi Aboualfa, research director at Copper.co, echoed similar sentiments, emphasizing that the price trend patterns between spot Bitcoin and gold exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are becoming increasingly similar.

• Jeffrey Zirlin, co-founder of crypto gaming platform Sky Mavis, stated in an interview that blockchain gaming and DeFi may benefit the most from Trump's presidency. Additionally, Trump's election will alleviate regulatory pressure on "token design" and allow for radical new innovations and experiments.

• CEO of Ripple Labs: "The crypto industry has embraced Trump; Trump has embraced the crypto industry. I think this is very sincere, and I believe he sees the opportunity, sees the innovation, sees the entrepreneurial spirit—I'm very excited about the future."

• QCP Capital posted on its official channel that given Bitcoin's strong upward trend since the U.S. election, it believes that a target price of $100,000 to $120,000 may not be far off. The potential strength of BTC represents a systemic shift in the market in anticipation of Trump's return to the White House. His idea of initiating a strategic BTC reserve and rotating from gold to BTC provides a strong bullish perspective that could support BTC prices.

Critical Voices:

• Economist and Bitcoin critic Peter Schiff sparked new controversy with his criticism of President-elect Donald Trump's support for cryptocurrency plans. Schiff criticized the Trump administration's support for Bitcoin, claiming it would undermine the U.S. economy. On Monday, Schiff posted on social media platform X: "When the government picks winners and losers, it usually picks losers. Since the Trump administration chose Bitcoin, Wall Street is winning big, misallocating capital to Bitcoin and related value-destroying enterprises."

• The non-profit cryptocurrency advocacy organization Coin Center warned that while Trump's victory is a net positive for the cryptocurrency industry, entrenched policies may still scare cryptocurrency innovators away from the U.S. Coin Center's research director, Van Valkenburgh, shared three "serious threats" facing U.S. cryptocurrency users and developers entering 2025. The first major threat comes from the cryptocurrency reporting requirements set forth in Section 6050I of the U.S. tax code, which currently mandates that anyone receiving $10,000 in cryptocurrency must report it unconditionally to the IRS. Last August, Coin Center deemed these reporting requirements unconstitutional. The second and third major threats stem from sanctions against Tornado Cash, including criminal charges for unlicensed money transmission against the mixing service and Samourai Wallet. Coin Center stated that the charges against Tornado Cash founder Roman Storm could set a troubling precedent for developers of non-regulated crypto services.