SEC Chair Paul Atkins Pledges End to ‘Regulation by Ambush’

Key Takeaways

• Paul Atkins has slammed the prior SEC chairman’s “shoot first” approach to crypto regulation.
• The agency aims to focus on the real threats, fraudsters, and bad actors in the space.
• The SEC has dropped over a dozen cases, lawsuits, and enforcement actions against crypto firms.

The new pro-crypto U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair, Paul Atkins, has declared that the agency will provide firms with plenty of warning about their potential breach of securities law before moving forward with enforcement actions.

This marks yet another promise from the regulator’s new boss to end the aggressive approach taken under his predecessor, Gary Gensler.

Ending the Enforcement Era

Speaking with the Financial Times, Atkins pledged to give crypto firms notice of their technical violations before imposing costly enforcement actions, or as he puts it, “bashing down the door.”

He posits that many were right to criticise the SEC, “especially,” he adds, as recent actions were less grounded in precedent and predictability.

“It would shoot first and then ask questions later.”

Now, it’s about getting the agencies’ priorities straight and focusing on serious fraudsters in the market. Quoting a sign on the door from his first SEC boss, Atkins told the FT:

“If you lie, cheat or steal your investors and steal their money like Bernie Madoff, we’ll leave you naked, homeless and without wheels.”

Under the previous SEC Chair, Gary Gensler, dozens of major and fledgling crypto firms were sued, taken to court for years, and were subject to billions in fines.

Now, under Atkins and “Project Crypto“, the SEC is working hard to provide crystal clear regulations and guidelines for the industry.

The Road Ahead

Since Donald Trump took office, a string of pro-crypto policies, appointments, and executive orders has kick-started America’s embrace of digital assets and Web3 technologies.

This has seen the SEC drop lawsuits, enforcement actions, and cases against crypto firms, including Ripple, Binance, Consensys, Robinhood, Uniswap, and many others.

Now, with the GENIUS Act signed into law and set to bring stablecoins into view in 2026, the CLARITY Act is next in line.

Primarily, this sweeping bill aims to create a clear market structure by clearly defining the roles of the SEC, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), and the types of digital assets they will oversee.

More specifically, the duo will have a codified, multi-tiered asset classifications framework to abide by, with no room for overlap in their jurisdictional authority, as has been the case for years now.

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