Source: Golden Finance, SEC, Bloomberg, CoinTelegraph, Wikipedia; Compiled by: Golden Finance

Former U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Commissioner Paul Atkins has become President-elect Trump’s new appointee Leading candidate for agency president.

Atkins, known for his pro-innovation stance and crypto expertise, is said to have the ability to "return the agency to recovery," according to financial journalist Eleanor Terrett, writing on The so-called 'gold standard'".

Atkins will become SEC Chairman following the resignation of Gary Gensler in January 2025, which means that U.S. cryptocurrency regulation may help promote innovation, rather than hindering innovation.

(Former U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Commissioner Paul Atkins)

1. Who is Atkins?

Atkins was born in Lillington, North Carolina, and grew up in Tampa, Florida. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Wofford College in 1980 and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa and Kappa Alpha Order.

Atkins began his career as an associate at the law firm of Davis Polk & Wardwell in New York City, where he worked primarily for U.S. and foreign clients on a variety of corporate transactions, including public and private securities offerings and mergers and acquisitions. He worked for two and a half years in the law firm's Paris office and qualified as a French legal counsel in 1988.

Prior to his appointment as Commissioner, Atkins assisted financial services companies in improving compliance with SEC regulations and worked with law enforcement agencies to investigate and correct situations in which investors were harmed. The most prominent of these was Bennett Funding Group, Inc., a $1 billion leasing company that committed what was then the largest "Ponzi" fraud in U.S. history. More than 20,000 investors lost most of their investments. According to Atkins' SEC resume, he assisted the company's court-appointed bankruptcy trustee and served as crisis president of Bennett's only surviving subsidiary. By stabilizing finances and operations and rebuilding and expanding the business, he increased stock value by nearly 2000% for remaining investors.

Atkins served as the former two-term chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Richard C. Breede, from 1990 to 1994.n) and Arthur Levitt's staff. Under Chairman Breeden, he has helped improve corporate governance regulations, strengthen shareholder communications, strengthen management accountability through agency reform, and lower barriers to capital markets for small and mid-sized businesses. Under Chairman Levitt, he was responsible for organizing the SEC's individual investor programs, including the first investor town hall meeting and the SEC's Consumer Affairs Advisory Committee.

Atkins served as a member of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) from July 9, 2002 until the end of his term in August 2008. He worked with Chairman Harvey Pitt, William H. Donaldson and Christopher Cox.

In December 2016, Atkins participated in a business forum organized by President-elect Trump to provide strategy and advice on economic issues.

2. Atkins’ image as a defender of digital assets

Atkins served as a Republican Securities and Exchange Commission member during the George W. Bush era and later founded Patomak Global Partners, a company that provides consulting services to major financial industry clients.

He is a strong supporter of digital assets and financial technology companies. He has also testified before Congress on how to restructure the agency's operations and reduce what some in the industry consider to be duplicative or overly burdensome regulations.

The SEC under Gensler has often been criticized by the industry for using enforcement to create regulations rather than clarifying how to comply with the rules, an approach that could change if Trump takes office again. He promised supporters that he would create a strategic Bitcoin reserve, appoint crypto-friendly regulators, and end the outgoing “anti-crypto movement.”

Under the new leadership, the SEC is expected to continue to focus on what are considered essential missions: rooting out fraud, combating insider trading, stopping Ponzi schemes, and curbing inaccurate, misleading, or exaggerated Information Disclosure.

Atkins’ leadership is expected to provide a more innovation-friendly environment for U.S. cryptocurrency regulation, potentially reversing what critics say is overreach by the current SEC leadership.

3. Trump’s new trend in encryption

Trump is considering transferring the regulatory power of cryptocurrencies and cryptocurrency exchanges from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) . Under the supervision of the SEC, Bitcoin is classified as a commodity. In the future, under the leadership of the CFTC, Bitcoin will move towards a more innovative prospect. Previously, under former CFTC Chairman Chris Giancarlo, the agency established itself as an innovation advocate when it approved Bitcoin back in 2017. Giancarlo said: “With good funding and the right leadership, I think CFTC can start regulating digital goods on the first day of Trump’s presidency. ”

As of November 23, local time, all candidates for Trump’s new cabinet ministers have been confirmed. In addition, Trump has also nominated a number of senior officials in the past few weeks. Candidates for high-level officials. Judging from the new list, in addition to names well-known in the crypto market such as Musk and Howard Lutnick, many cabinet officials are firm supporters of cryptocurrency and have disclosed cryptocurrency holdings, including nominations. Vice President, Secretary of the Treasury, Secretary of Commerce, Secretary of Health and Human Services, Director of Intelligence, etc.

Galaxy CEO Michael Novogratz said in an interview with CNBC that almost all members of US President-elect Trump’s cabinet hold Bitcoin and are strong supporters of digital assets. He pointed out. , these members support innovation, digital assets, and Bitcoin itself. Novogratz also mentioned that I would not be surprised if the cryptocurrency price increases further. The market is in a price discovery stage and the supply is limited.

Click Golden Finance for details. Article "Trump's possible cabinet members inventory Who are crypto-friendly people? VanEck analysis believes that given Trump’s strong support for Bitcoin and his focus on reshoring and supply chains, El Salvador may become a strategic partner for the United States in establishing a regional alliance. 4. Will a Trump Administration be Good for the Crypto Industry?

Voice of the Bulls:

Galaxy Expects BlackRock IBIT Active trading activity in ETF options will continue into January 2027, roughly halfway through the Donald Trump administration. This concentrated long-term activity level reflects investor confidence in the long-term growth potential of Bitcoin ETFs and bodes well for the future. A few years of bullish sentiment

Deenar co-founder Maruf Yusupov. Bitcoin’s rapid rise following Trump’s U.S. election victory may be reshaping traditional views on inflation hedges. Trump’s focus on tax cuts, tariffs and cryptocurrencies is driving interest in Bitcoin as a hedge against inflation. Interest in modern alternatives to gold is likely to see a significant shift in capital away from gold and towards digital assets, said Nigel Green, CEO of deVere Group. Fadi, head of research at Copper.co, also said that Bitcoin is increasingly viewed as a hedge against inflation and a tool for portfolio diversification, with institutional interest reaching an all-time high and infrastructure supporting mass adoption. Aboualfa echoed this sentiment, also highlighting the increasing similarities in price action patterns between spot Bitcoin and gold exchange-traded funds (ETFs)

The co-founder of crypto gaming platform Sky Mavis. Jeffrey Zirlin inIn an interview, he said that blockchain games and DeFi may benefit the most from Trump’s presidency. Additionally, Trump’s election will ease regulatory pressure on “token design” and allow for radical new innovations and experiments.

Ripple Labs CEO: “The crypto industry has embraced Trump; Trump has embraced the crypto industry. I think it’s very sincere, I think he sees opportunity, he sees innovation , seeing the entrepreneurial spirit - I am very excited about the future.”

QCP Capital posted on its official channel that in view of Bitcoin’s strong upward trend since the US election, it believes that the target is 100,000 to 120,000 US dollars. The price may not be far off. BTC’s underlying strength represents a systemic shift in markets in anticipation of Trump’s return to the White House. His idea of ​​initiating strategic BTC reserves and rotating from gold to BTC provides a strong bullish view that could keep BTC prices supported.

Voice of the Critics:

Economist and Bitcoin critic Peter Schiff weighs in on President-elect Donald Trump’s support for crypto Criticism of the currency plan has sparked new controversy. Schiff criticized Trump for supporting Bitcoin, claiming it would weaken the U.S. economy. On Monday, Schiff posted on social media platform Coins and related value-destroying businesses”

Coin Center, a nonprofit cryptocurrency advocacy group, warned that although a Trump victory would be a net positive for the cryptocurrency industry, entrenched Will scare cryptocurrency innovators away from the United States. Coin Center research director Van Valkenburgh shared three “serious threats” facing U.S. cryptocurrency users and developers entering 2025. The first major threat comes from the cryptocurrency reporting requirements under Section 6050I of the U.S. tax code, which currently states that anyone who receives $10,000 in cryptocurrency must unconditionally report it to the IRS. Last August, Coin Center deemed these reporting requirements unconstitutional. The second and third biggest threats come from sanctions against Tornado Cash, including criminal charges filed against the mixing service and Samourai Wallet for unlicensed fund transmissions. Coin Center said the charges against Tornado Cash founder Roman Storm could set a worrying precedent for developers of non-regulated crypto services.