Trump taps crypto enthusiast Paul Atkins to replace Gensler at SEC

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President-Elect Donald Trump appeared to strengthen his ties to the crypto industry Wednesday when he nominated a popular crypto advocate, Patomak Global Partners founder Paul Atkins, to be the next chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

In the announcement, posted to his social media platform TruthSocial, Trump touted Atkins’s leadership in “common sense regulations” and highlighted his experience working on and studying the digital assets industry. Atkins has served as co-chairman of the Digital Chamber’s Token Alliance, a policy voice for crypto firms, tokenized networks, apps, and issuers, since 2017. Prior to founding Patomak, he also served as SEC commissioner from 2002 to 2008.

Trump appears to be making good on his pro-crypto stance and goal to make the U.S. the “crypto capital of the planet,” a promise he made to crypto enthusiasts on the campaign trail earlier this year, reversing his earlier criticism of the technology. “The SEC has been very, very tough on you,” Trump told attendees at the Bitcoin Conference 2024 in July. In September, Trump unveiled his own cryptocurrency business called World Liberty Financial. After Trump secured a victory in the U.S. presidential election in November, the price of bitcoin soared to a record high.

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