Paul Atkins is installed in the SEC What are your plans for Bitcoin?

After being ratified by the Senate on April 9, Paul Atkins prepares to lead a stage that could mark a significant change regarding the management of his predecessor. At the time of writing this note, the position of President number 34 of the United States Stock Exchange and Securities Commission (SEC) of the United States officially holds.

In an official statement published on the Portal of the SEC, the regulation specialist said he was honored by the confidence given by both President Donald Trump and the US Senate. UU. As he said, his mission will be “to facilitate the creation of capital, maintain fair, ordered and efficient markets, and protect investors.”

Atkins replaces Mark Uyeda, who held the position on an interim way after Gary Gensler’s resignation on January 20. With that change of administration it was announced The creation of the agency’s cryptocurrency working groupwhich is headed by Commissioner Hester Peirce.

Since the first days, the lawyer wanted to address the community to make it clear that the intention of her team was Mark distance with an administration that he considered ambiguous and hostile towards innovation. In one of his first communiqués, he stressed that the new SEC would not only respect the jurisdiction of the other agencies, but also that they were aware that a healthy collaboration between the different regulators will be key to advancing.

This message can be interpreted as a clear allusion to the frictions that existed between the SEC of Gary Gensler and the Trade Commission of Futures of Raw Materials (CFTC). While the latter argued that most cryptoactive ones should be classified as commodities, the SEC considered that all, except Bitcoin, were values.

Consequently, the working group on cryptocurrencies will now be under the direction of Atkins, who is expected to continue the turn towards a less punitive posture. However, His appointment has generated controversy due to its history and links with the financial world. And it is that during his mandate as commissioner of the SEC (2002-2008), the businessman supported deregulation policies that some specialists link the origin of the economic crisis of 2008. After leaving the agency, he founded Patomak Global Partners, a company that has provided advice to several signatures of the industry, including FTX. These connections have raised concerns about possible conflicts of interest and whether their approach will favor the industry to the detriment of investor protection.

Although Bitcoin’s interest has continued to grow in recent years, it is worth clarifying that the SEC faces a series of more general challenges and priorities in the field of digital currencies. Atkins, who already served as commissioner during the government of George W. Bush, It is perceived as a regulator with disposition to promote more balanced and reasonable policies.

Among the priorities currently facing the SEC, is the review of more than 70 requests for quoted funds (ETFs) linked to cryptoactive. ATKINS must accelerate the evaluation of these proposals to respond to the growing demand of both institutional and retail investors. With this former Wall Street consulisor, The agency could cease to be an obstacle to becoming an ally of the sector… If it manages to implement a less aggressive regulatory approach than Gensler’s, a more favorable environment could be generated that attracts more cryptocurrency companies to the United States.

However, Atkins must also deal with regulatory tensions at the state level that could complicate its objectives. A recent example is the lawsuit filed on April 18 by Oregon Attorney General against Coinbase, where it is alleged that multiple cryptoactive ones were offered as unregistered values. This case, which ignores precedents such as the 2023 ruling that determined that XRP is not a value in public sales, has been criticized as an attempt to regulate per litigation.

So far this year, the SEC has removed multiple litigation that it had in progress, including cases against Ripple, Coinbase, Robinhood, Kraken, Yuga Labs, among others. The community hopes for this course to continue, as well as a clearer and clearer vision of the application of securities laws to cryptocurrencies. In fact, it is known that the SEC plans to organize more round tables to discuss key issues such as cryptoactive custody and tokenization of traditional assets. The objective is to define more accurately which should be considered values ​​and how they can be registered in accordance with current regulations, thus reducing the ambiguity that innovation has stopped in the sector.

The latter could contribute to forming an environment aligned with the words of the so -called “AI tsar and cryptocurrencies,” David Sacks, who said that investors need clear definitions. Meanwhile, it is convenient to keep the caution and remember that Gensler also had all the tools to achieve significant advances, but His results were far from what the community expected.