- Sources close to Donald Trump’s transition team say former SEC commissioner and digital assets industry supporter, Paul Atkins, is the frontrunner to replace Gary Gensler as the SEC Chair.
- Atkins served as SEC Commissioner during the George W. Bush administration from 2002-2008 and has advised crypto advocacy group The Digital Chamber since 2017.
- Many within the crypto industry consider Atkins a strong choice as SEC chair, given his background at the regulator and his deep knowledge of the digital assets industry.
Donald Trump might be set to put the SEC on a strict new diet…an Atkins diet!
According to sources close to the president-elect’s transition team, Paul Atkins (he’s not actually the diet guy) has been interviewed for the position of Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair. He is apparently in prime position to fill the role once it’s vacated by the outgoing chair, Gary ‘Gone-sler’ Gensler.
Atkins, who served as an SEC commissioner during George W. Bush’s stint as president, is widely seen as a pro-crypto and pro-innovation candidate. After leaving the SEC, Atkins founded a consultancy firm, and in recent years he’s been advocating for better regulation of digital assets and has testified before Congress on the issue.
The sources say that while Atkins has been interviewed and is a leading candidate, no decision has yet been made. An announcement is expected in the next few days.
Other contenders for the position include:
- Mark Uvyeda, a current SEC commissioner,
- Heath Tarbert, the former chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC),
- Robert Stebbins, current partner at Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP, and
- Brian Brooks, former US comptroller of the currency and current director of the venture arm of the Hedera crypto network, the HBAR Foundation.
Related: Trump Administration Taps CFTC for Top Crypto Role in Major Overhaul of Digital Asset Oversight
So Paul Atkins Leads The Pack, Tell Me More About This Guy
Numerous outlets have reported Atkins is the frontrunner to helm the SEC, including Bloomberg and Fox Business crypto journalist Eleanor Terrett. Posting on X / Twitter, Terrett reported that Atkins “is said to still be the favorite among top transition team members to lead the @SECGov, according to two sources close to discussions at Mar-a-Lago”.
Who exactly is this Atkins fellow? If he’s not the diet guy are we sure he’s the right man for the job?
Although he has never invented any well-known fad diets, Paul Atkins has served as an SEC Commissioner from 2002-2008 under two chairmen, Richard Breeden and Arthur Levitt. After leaving the SEC, Atkins founded the consultancy firm Patomak Global Partners and since 2017 has co-chaired an advisory board for the digital assets advocacy group The Digital Chamber, marking him as one of the leaders of the digital assets industry’s push for more effective regulation.
Many within the crypto industry believe Atkins would be a good fit for the role of SEC Chair, given his previous history with the regulator and his knowledge of the digital assets industry. Posting on X / Twitter, crypto-lawyer and pro-crypto senate candidate at the recent election, John Deaton aired his support:
Paul Atkins is great and I’ll certainly welcome and support him if selected. He’s light years ahead of @GaryGensler – who’s, without question, the worst @SECGov Chair in modern history.
John Deaton, Crypto lawyerTerrett also believes Atkins would be a good for digital assets if he got the role:
Atkins is someone who is not only crypto-savvy but possesses a deep understanding of the inner workings of the agency as both a former commissioner and staffer under two prior SEC Chairs — Richard C. Breeden and Arthur Levitt. Atkins is seen as being capable of establishing a pro-innovation agenda while returning the agency to the so-called “gold standard” many in the Republican Party feel was lost under outgoing chair Gary Gensler.
Eleanor Terrett, Fox Business crypto journalistDeaton added that whichever contender is selected as chair, he believes they should take a wrecking ball to the regulator and completely change its approach:
Whoever’s the Chair, he/she goes into the SEC with a blow torch and chainsaw and fires anyone who participated in the gross overreach and misconduct during the last four years.
John Deaton, Crypto lawyerTrump had promised to fire Gensler as SEC Chair on “day one”, but Gensler has since announced he’ll step down on January 20, the same day Trump will be inaugurated.
Related: Bloomberg: Trump Considers Establishing First-Ever White House Crypto Role
Whoever replaces Gensler will be working under an administration packed with pro-crypto figures, the most notable being Trump himself who during the campaign vowed to make the US the “crypto capital of the planet” and said he plans to establish a strategic Bitcoin reserve and possibly remove capital gains tax on Bitcoin and US-made crypto.
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