President-elect Donald Trump announced on Wednesday that he has nominated cryptocurrency advocate Paul Atkins to be the next Chairman of the Securities & Exchange Commission.
The Washington Post reported that his nomination signals a “significant political shift for Washington’s leading cop on Wall Street,” indicating that the Trump administration will likely usher in a new era of deregulation and a relaxing of some of its enforcement operations.
“Paul is a proven leader for common sense regulations,” Trump said in a statement. “He believes in the promise of robust, innovative capital markets that are responsive to the needs of Investors, & that provide capital to make our Economy the best in the World. He also recognizes that digital assets & other innovations are crucial to Making America Greater than Ever Before.”
Atkins was appointed in 2002 to be a Commissioner of the Securities and Exchange Commission by President George W. Bush, a role he served in through late 2008.
He earned his J.D. from Vanderbilt University School of Law and started his career as an attorney in New York City, where he focused on “corporate transactions for U.S. and foreign clients, including public and private securities offerings and mergers and acquisitions,” according to the SEC.
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Atkins has worked with law enforcement agencies to “investigate and rectify situations where investors had been harmed.”
He is the founder and CEO of the risk management company Patomak Global Partners, a firm that specializes in advising financial firms and cryptocurrency companies.
U.S. senators praised Trump for picking Atkins to lead the SEC.
Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) said that the nomination was “a huge win for financial innovation.”
“President Trump promised to have the most pro-digital asset admin in U.S. history, and I am looking forward to working with both of them to promote innovation and make our economy strong again,” she said.
Sen. Katie Britt (R-AL) congratulated Atkins on the nomination in a post on X, saying that it was “another step closer to strong pro-markets, pro-innovation, and pro-growth leadership at the SEC.”
