Key Insights:
New SEC Chief designate Paul Atkins has disclosed over $6 million in crypto assets, making him the first SEC chief to own a crypto-related stock holder.
Atkins awaits his confirmation by the Senate, following which he will become the next serving SEC Chief with a 4-year tenure.
After his appointment, Paul's agenda might include approval of altcoin ETFs, crypto regulations, new stablecoin laws and much more.
Atkins had already served as the chief of SEC during Bush's tenure.
New SEC Chairman designate Paul Atkins will be taking his place as the head of the US regulatory body soon following a Senate vote. Atkins will be replacing acting Chairman Mark Uyeda, who was sworn-in as the temporary chief following Gary Gensler's exit.
Gensler has been one of the most anti-crypto public figures during the Biden administration, and his removal was a key promise made by Donald Trump during his election campaign last year.
During a mandatory disclosure, the new designate was found to have $6 million in shares of Securitize, Anchorage Digital, and Off The Chain Capital, all crypto-native companies in the USA. Atkins disclosed his total wealth at $327 million (including that of his spouse). He owns $500k worth of Call Options at Securitize, around the same amount of stocks in Anchorage Digital, and the rest in Off The Chain Capital.
Paul Atkins did not have any direct crypto holdings, unlike several key public figures like President Donald Trump, who have considerablecrypto ownership.
The roles and responsibilities of the SEC chief would only get clear after the White House AI and Crypto Working Group led by David Sacks submits its report. Until the report arrives, there is very little certainty on which regulator would get to regulate crypto.
If things go in the SEC's favor, which currently appears to be the most probable scenario, it would put Atkins in a position to decide on crypto regulation; otherwise, crypto could see joint regulation as drafted in the FIT 21 Act.
The bipartisan FIT 21 Act provided for individual regulatory mandates in the case of centralized and decentralized crypto projects but had mandated joint regulation in other matters, including those regulating exchanges.
Irrespective of whether the SEC gets to regulate crypto, altcoin ETFs being securities will be under it's mandate. Currently, there are at least 15 altcoin ETFs: 9 in XRP, at least 4 in Solana, 2 in Dogecoin, 1 multi-crypto asset and a few other altcoin ETFs.
Further, several other asset managers have been considering sending their ETF applications soon.
Despite the lack of clarity on who will regulate crypto, the SEC has initiated several roundtable conferences after the White House Crypto Summit. If Paul decides to continue the conferences (which is likely), he might give the SEC the power to regulate crypto.
Seeing Donald Trump's address at the White House Crypto Summit and at the Blockworks Summit, it can be assumed that stablecoin laws will be much more different than other crypto laws.
The SEC could also be put in charge of crypto regulations if the crypto working group submits a report in its favor. If granted, forming the set of crypto laws would be the most difficult task for any SEC chief given the variety of assets in the crypto space.
Mark Uyeda had earlier classified memecoins as mere collectibles and not security owing to the lack of utility in them.
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