The buzz of speculation around who would take over as the next chair of the SEC has taken yet another turn.
Paul Atkins, a former commissioner at the Securities and Exchange Commission, has emerged as a prominent contender to lead the agency under President-elect Donald Trump, according to reports citing sources familiar with the matter.
The search for a new SEC chair comes as the agency's current head Gary Gensler prepares to step down on January 20, the same day Trump will officially take office.
In an earlier report by Politico, sources indicated that Atkins was recently invited to meet with Trump, though no final decision has been made. Others reportedly under consideration for the role include Heath Tarbert, former chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and Mark Uyeda, an SEC commissioner.
“President-elect Trump has made brilliant decisions on who will serve in his second administration at lightning pace,” Trump spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said in a statement to Bloomberg, which first reported on Atkins' potential nomination.
Atkins served as a Republican commissioner at the SEC from 2002 to 2008, navigating regulatory challenges that followed the Enron and WorldCom scandals. Since then, he has headed Patomak Global Partners, a consulting firm whose clientele has included major banks, cryptocurrency firms, and trading companies.
A favorable contender for seekers of light-touch regulation, Atkins is known for his strong stance in support of digital assets and fintech companies. During a Federalist Society event earlier this year, he called the lack of clear rules surrounding cryptocurrency a "fundamental underlying issue" for regulators to address.
The next SEC chair will likely face significant challenges in regulating the rapidly growing cryptocurrency sector, valued at approximately $3 trillion. Among the many policies and measures introduced during Gensler’s tenure, the SEC emphasized enforcement in its approach to crypto, a strategy that drew criticism from industry stakeholders seeking more precise guidelines.
Trump has promised to adopt a more crypto-friendly regulatory framework, pledging to appoint officials supportive of digital assets and to reverse what he described as the current administration's "anti-crypto crusade."
While many voices in the cryptosphere have welcomed the news of Gensler's resignation, at least one voice has called for even more extreme steps. In a pre-Thanksgiving Bloomberg interview, Donald R. Wilson, founder of DRW Holdings LLC, called for the termination of the SEC as part of a broader revamp of the framework governing the US investment industry.
“Friction between the SEC and the CFTC is just an ongoing counterproductive force,” Wilson said. "It’s time to just start from scratch, to actually get rid of both the CFTC and the SEC and create an entirely new regulator.”
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