Paul Atkins testifies before the Senate Banking, Housing, & Urban Affairs Committee during his confirmation hearing to be Chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, on Thursday, March 27, 2025. Photo: Diego M. Radzinschi/ALM
Wall Street’s top regulator said he wants by the end of the year a new “innovation exemption” to let crypto firms immediately launch products — the latest example of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s more friendly approach to digital assets.
SEC Chairman Paul Atkins also said on Tuesday that the agency would be working to write new rules for crypto in the coming months. In July, Atkins floated the idea of an exemption to let some businesses quickly enter the market with new technologies without having “to comply with incompatible or burdensome prescriptive regulatory requirements.”
Since President Donald Trump took office in January, the SEC has moved quickly to pivot to a more crypto-friendly stance. The agency has dropped several enforcement cases brought under Gary Genlser, the agency’s Biden-era chair, and has set up a crypto task force to help “chart a new approach to the regulation of cryptoassets.”
“We’re trying to give the marketplace some kind of stable platform upon which they can introduce their products,” Atkins said in the interview on the “Mornings with Maria” show on Fox Business.
Meanwhile, Atkins also said he wanted to boost the number of initial public offerings in the US. He said there are half as many publicly traded companies as there were 30 years ago.
“I want to make IPOs great again,” Atkins also said on Tuesday in a nod to the MAGA movement’s slogan.
Credit: Diego M. Radzinschi/ALM
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