MW Trump SEC pick will make digital assets a 'top priority' as pro-crypto push gains steam

By Chris Matthews

Senate hearing signals a push to get banks to provide financial services to crypto firms

President Donald Trump's pick to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission foreshadowed a hands-off approach to the digital-asset industry in a confirmation hearing before a Senate banking panel Wednesday.

At the hearing, Paul Atkins called many aspects of former SEC chief Gary Gensler's tenure "disturbing," including the overturning of several rulemaking initiatives by federal courts, growing rates of staff attrition and the agency's controversial enforcement actions against cryptocurrency firms such as digital-asset exchange Coinbase Global $(COIN)$.

"A top priority of my chairmanship will be the work of my fellow commissioners and Congress to provide a firm regulatory foundation for digital assets through a rational, coherent and principled approach," Atkins said.

The hearing was further evidence that an emboldened Republican Party is preparing an aggressively pro-crypto policy push that seeks to correct for what they describe as a Biden administration that was actively hostile to the industry.

A key focus of the proceedings was on allegations that Biden regulators leaned heavily on financial institutions do "debank" crypto companies by cutting them off from bank accounts and other services.

The hearing included testimony from Trump's pick to lead a key banking regulator, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. Jonathan Gould argued that Biden regulators had used the concept of "reputational risk" as a pretext to dissuade banks from providing services to crypto companies, when in fact they had "other motives."

Some analysts argue that while it's true that many cryptocurrency founders and companies may have had trouble consistently accessing these services, the banking industry's reluctance to do business with those companies was as much a product of private concerns about money laundering and volatile digital-asset prices as it was the result of signaling from regulators.

If regulators move from a stance of skepticism about crypto toward a position where they actively encourage crypto companies' access to banking, that could be a boon for the industry.

Atkins also called for broader deregulatory efforts beyond crypto, arguing that the current environment "inhibits investment and too often punishes success," while "unclear, overly politicized, complicated and burdensome regulations are stifling capital formation" and preventing private companies from going public.

Atkins has long had a reputation as an advocate for free markets and regulatory restraint. He first joined the SEC as a staff lawyer under former Chair Richard Breen before he was appointed a commissioner at the agency under President George W. Bush in 2002.

After a six-year stint as commissioner, Atkins founded Patomak Global Partners, a financial-services consultancy, where he advised clients on regulatory compliance and corporate governance issues.

As commissioner, Atkins consistently pushed back against what he viewed as regulatory overreach, often dissenting from enforcement actions he considered excessive while criticizing the practice of fining shareholders for mistakes made by a public company's management team.

Senate Banking Committee Chair Tim Scott, a South Carolina Republican, received a promise from Atkins during the hearing that "everyone who wishes to play by the rules, including the crypto industry, will be treated fairly" by the SEC.

Crypto prices were edging higher midday Wednesday, with bitcoin (BTCUSD) and ether (ETHUSD) both gaining about 0.5%.

-Chris Matthews

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March 27, 2025 12:34 ET (16:34 GMT)

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