President-elect Donald Trump named Patomak Global Partners founder and CEO Paul Atkins as his pick to head up the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday.
Atkins, who co-chairs the Digital Chamber’s Token Alliance and is an adviser to Reserve Rights, previously served as a commissioner at the agency under former President George W. Bush between 2002 and 2008.
The former regulator visited Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s Florida resort, earlier this week but was initially reluctant to take on the role, CoinDesk reported Tuesday.
In his announcement, Trump called Atkins a “proven leader.”
“He believes in the promise of robust, innovative capital markets that are responsive to the needs of Investors, & that provide capital to make our Economy the best in the World,” he said on his social media platform Truth Social. “He also recognizes that digital assets & other innovations are crucial to Making America Greater than Ever Before.”
Unlike some of Trump’s other picks which seemed designed as aggressive efforts to shake up their departments, Atkins is an old-guard figure in the U.S. securities world. He’s unlikely to tear apart the agency he previously served as a commissioner and has stayed connected to in his consulting work. His firm employs several former officials from the SEC and Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
He will succeed outgoing SEC Chair Gary Gensler, who previously announced he’d resign at noon on Jan. 20, when Trump is sworn into office as the U.S.’s 47th president.
Under Gensler, the regulator has taken on a number of enforcement actions against crypto companies, including several premised on the idea that some crypto exchanges are simultaneously operating as unlicensed exchanges, clearinghouses and brokers. In doing so, Gensler drew the ire of much of the crypto industry.
It remains to be seen how Atkins may view these cases.
Jesse Hamilton contributed reporting.
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