The US Senate officially confirmed Paul Atkins to take charge of the SEC under President Trump.
On April 9, the Senate voted 52-44, mostly along party lines, to confirm Paul Atkins as the new SEC chair, a position nominated by President Trump.
After President Trump nominated him late last year, the Senate confirmed pro-crypto former Wall Street consultant Paul Atkins on April 9.
Atkins served as a commissioner at the SEC from 2002 to 2008, navigating the challenges of the global financial crisis.
”A veteran of our Commission, we look forward to him joining with us, along with our dedicated staff, to fulfill our mission on behalf of the investing public,” the agency’s commissioners wrote in an April 9 statement.
In 2009, Atkins founded Patomak Global Partners, a financial consulting firm focused on regulatory compliance and risk management, and co-chaired the Token Alliance, a crypto advocacy organization, from 2017 to late 2024.
Upon swearing in, Atkins will replace Mark Uyeda, who took over as acting chair on January 20 after Gary Gensler resigned.
Throughout Gensler’s time as chair, the SEC took aggressive action, filing lawsuits and investigations against crypto firms for potential breaches of securities regulations.
Tim Scott, Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, expressed confidence that Atkins would continue the SEC’s crypto-friendly approach initiated under Trump.
“Atkins will also provide regulatory clarity for digital assets, allowing American innovation to flourish, and ensuring we remain competitive on the global stage.”
Under Trump, the SEC established a Crypto Task Force to provide regulatory guidance to the industry and reversed several crypto-related investigations and enforcement actions that Gensler had carried out.
Atkins made it clear in his March Senate confirmation hearing that his main goal at the SEC would be “to provide a firm regulatory foundation for digital assets through a rational, coherent, and principled approach.”
Reports indicated that the delay in confirming Atkins stemmed from the need to file several financial disclosures due to his marriage into a billionaire family.
He married Sarah Humphreys Atkins in 1990; her family is affiliated with TAMKO Building Products LLC, a roofing shingle manufacturer that reached $1.2 billion in revenue in 2023, according to a Forbes article published in December.
The couple is estimated to have a total net worth of at least $327 million.
Atkins’ financial disclosures, reported by Fortune last month, showed that he had up to $6 million in crypto-related investments, including in Anchorage Digital and Securitize, platforms focused on crypto custody and blockchain tokenization. Atkins vowed to divest his crypto investments if confirmed.
