US President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for the next Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chair, former commissioner Paul Atkins, has received praise from several high-profile cryptocurrency companies. In a Bloomberg interview, Bitwise Asset Management general counsel Katherine Dowling called Atkins “a great choice” to lead the regulatory body, suggesting he could be less “antagonistic” to lawmakers than current SEC chair Gary Gensler.
Atkins, who served under President George W. Bush from 2002 to 2008, has experience regulating before the advent of cryptocurrencies. His nomination by Trump would still require Senate confirmation, with Republicans holding a slim majority in 2025.
Other cryptocurrency company heads have also expressed support for Atkins’ appointment, citing their dissatisfaction with Gensler’s approach to regulation. Ripple Labs CEO Brad Garlinghouse called for “common sense” at the SEC, while Coinbase chief legal officer Paul Grewal described Atkins as “sorely needed.” A lawsuit filed by the SEC against Ripple in 2020 is currently under appeal, and it’s unclear how this case may be affected by a new SEC chair.
Source: https://cointelegraph.com/news/crypto-execs-donald-trump-sec-paul-atkins