President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday nominated Paul Atkins, founder and CEO of Patomak Global Partners, as chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Atkins, co-chair of the Digital Chamber’s Token Alliance and an advisor to the Reserve, previously served as a member of the agency under former President George W. Bush from 2002 to 2008.
The former regulator visited President Trump’s Florida resort, Mar-a-Lago, earlier this week but was initially reluctant to take on the role, CoinDesk reported Tuesday.
In his announcement, President Trump called Atkins a “proven leader.”
“He believes in the promise of strong, innovative capital markets that respond to the needs of investors and 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 and other innovations are critical to making America greater than before.”
Unlike Trump’s other picks, which seem designed as aggressive efforts to shake up the department, Atkins is an old-school figure in American securities. He is unlikely to dismantle the agency, where he previously served as a commissioner and with whom he remains connected through consulting work. His company employs several former officials from the SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
He will succeed SEC Chairman Gary Gensler, who previously announced that he would resign at noon on January 20, when President Trump is inaugurated as the 47th president of the United States.
Under Gensler, regulators have taken a number of enforcement actions against cryptocurrency companies, including several premised on the idea that some cryptocurrency exchanges are operating as unlicensed exchanges, clearinghouses, and brokers simultaneously. In doing so, Gensler incurred the ire of many in the cryptocurrency industry.
It is yet to be seen how Atkins will view these cases.
Jesse Hamilton contributed reporting.