In December 2024, Donald Trump selected Paul Atkins to succeed Gary Gensler as the head of the U.S. SEC. However, bureaucratic holdups have delayed Atkins from starting his role. A recently released financial disclosure prior to his confirmation hearing indicates an intriguing fact: Atkins is a passionate investor in cryptocurrency.
During Gensler’s leadership at the Securities and Exchange Commission, the agency adopted a confrontational stance toward cryptocurrency firms, resulting in numerous lawsuits against prominent companies and categorizing digital assets largely as unregistered securities, complicating the ability of U.S. businesses to operate in the crypto space without legal complications.
Trump has promised to establish America as the global leader in cryptocurrency, and his choice for the SEC chair reflects this vision. Paul Atkins, a staunch crypto supporter and active investor, has even served as an expert witness in legal proceedings involving finance firms targeted by Gensler’s SEC. Despite the delays in his ascension to chairmanship, Atkins’ Senate Banking Committee hearing is anticipated.
Atkins’ Investments
As of March 25, 2025, financial disclosures indicate that Paul Atkins and his spouse possess total assets ranging from $327 million to $588.8 million, with the report providing value ranges instead of precise amounts.
Approximately $6 million of their investments are related to cryptocurrency. Atkins has about $1 million in equity across two crypto companies along with another $5 million invested in a crypto-focused fund.
Until recently, Atkins held call options valued up to $500,000 in BlackRock’s tokenization firm, Securitize, where he served on the board. He also owned a similar equity stake in Anchorage Digital and had invested up to $5 million in Off the Chain Capital, where he was a limited partner. It is reported that he has agreed to divest these assets upon his confirmation as SEC chair.
Letter from Elizabeth Warren
Atkins’ confirmation is encountering pushback from Senator Elizabeth Warren, a senior member of the Senate Banking Committee and a prominent critic of cryptocurrency.
Warren sent a detailed 32-page letter outlining several questions Atkins will need to address during his hearing. She raised concerns regarding his involvement at the SEC during the 2008 financial crisis, his advisory capacity at the defunct FTX exchange, and potential conflicts of interest due to his connections with companies pushing for deregulation.
She has also taken issue with his recent position as CEO of Patomak Global Partners, a consulting firm that provided guidance to several businesses regulated by the SEC under Gensler, including FTX, whose collapse in 2022 contributed to the SEC’s tougher stance during Gensler’s tenure.
Although Atkins has committed to divest his investments, Warren contends that this is insufficient unless he agrees to reveal to Congress the identity of the buyers and whether they are gaining access to the SEC chair in exchange for their transactions.
Looking Ahead
Positioned as both a pro-crypto advocate and an industry veteran, Atkins is seen as well-equipped to navigate the challenges facing the cryptocurrency market. He is likely to carry forward the post-Gensler trajectory advocated by Hester Peirce, with the SEC already retracting several lawsuits initiated during Gensler’s era against companies like Ripple, Coinbase, and Kraken.
Moreover, the SEC has clarified that meme tokens are classified as collectibles rather than securities, marking a significant shift in the legal interpretation of crypto tokens. Atkins is anticipated to promote more accommodating regulations that will support the operation of crypto enterprises. His January meeting with Senator Lummis suggests that a pro-crypto phase at the SEC is imminent. Lummis asserts that Atkins will swiftly deliver regulatory clarity to the digital asset sector. Atkins expressed that “the collapse of FTX was an international debacle largely because the U.S. did not craft rules that fit this new technology.”
However, in addition to establishing a clearer regulatory framework for cryptocurrency ventures, Atkins will need to align with Trump’s directive to reduce the number of SEC personnel, prompting the departure of hundreds of agency workers. Currently, the SEC consists of around 5,000 employees, with 10% expected to exit in the coming weeks.
Should he be confirmed, Atkins could guide the SEC into a new chapter characterized by regulatory transparency, innovation, and market expansion, while also downsizing the agency’s workforce and operational scale.