Paul Atkins has lent the oath to formally become the president of the United States Stock Exchange and Securities Commission, which returns Mark Uyeda to his previous role as a Republican commissioner after three months of service occupied as head of the agency.
Atkins permanently replaces the former president, Gary Gensler, whom the cryptographic industry had seen widely as his main antagonist in the United States government. But Uyeda and his commissioner Hester Peirce have already put the SEC on a road to a greater acceptance of digital assets, forming a cryptographic working group, throwing a long list of industry application actions and collection of industry representatives in a series of cryptographic round sizes. The agency’s staff also published statements announced by several cryptography corners such as outside their securities jurisdiction.
The new president said he is honored by “trust and trust” Trump and the United States Senate placed on him and is pleased to start working with the other commissioners.
“Together we will work to make sure that the United States is the best and safer place in the world to invest and do business,” he said in a statement.
Atkins, who was confirmed by the Senate as a candidate for President Donald Trump earlier this month, had previously served as the SEC Commissioner and led a Washington consulting firm focused on compliance and policy issues. In addition to his ties of Wall Street, Atkins had also assumed advice roles with cryptographic firms.
The Senate easily approved Atkins with a 52-44 vote, although the Senate Banking Committee had advanced its confirmation in the party lines. All Panel Democrats opposed the nominated, including Senator Elizabeth Warren, who criticized Atkins’ previous mandate in the SEC from 2002 to 2008, linking it to the 2008 world financial crisis.
The SEC faces a considerable cryptographic agenda, potentially complicated by Trump’s personal commercial interests in the industry, even in Stablecoin de World Liberty Financial and in Memecoins (such as the president’s own Trump). However, its possible cryptographic regulations will be largely directed by future legislation that is now a priority in Congress.
Atkins’ mandate will begin with an incomplete commission, with only four of its five members in its place. And the only Democrat, Caroline Crenshaw, is occupying an already expired term. The White House has not yet moved to fill the two democratic spaces in the commission, and other regulators have seen Trump try to strip the Democratic members of their positions.
Read more: Trump’s choice to direct the SEC Paul Atkins promises a new cryptographic position, receives few questions
