{"id":125715,"date":"2025-03-24T18:28:16","date_gmt":"2025-03-24T18:28:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/?p=125715"},"modified":"2025-03-24T18:28:16","modified_gmt":"2025-03-24T18:28:16","slug":"what-to-expect-at-paul-atkins-sec-confirmation-hearing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/?p=125715","title":{"rendered":"What to expect at Paul Atkins\u2019 SEC confirmation hearing"},"content":{"rendered":"

Source: Cointelegraph.com NewsFormer US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) member Paul Atkins is scheduled to appear before lawmakers in the Senate Banking Committee on March 27 as part of the Trump administration\u2019s efforts to get the President\u2019s picks into high-level government positions.
\nSince Donald Trump took office on Jan. 20, the SEC, under the leadership of acting chair Mark Uyeda, has dropped several investigations and enforcement actions against major crypto firms, many of which had been in court for months or years. Many analysts see the SEC\u2019s recent actions as the administration acting on its campaign promises to the crypto industry, some of whom donated directly to the then-presidential candidate or his inauguration fund after the Nov. 5 election.
\nThe commission\u2019s actions \u2014 which include claiming memecoins aren\u2019t securities \u2014\u00a0 also stand in stark contrast to its position under former chair Gary Gensler, leading many to speculate that the SEC under Trump will lead to a booming US crypto industry essentially free of regulatory scrutiny.
\nAtkins, whom Trump picked in December 2024 and officially nominated after taking office, received support from industry players at Coinbase and Ripple, both of which had ongoing enforcement actions brought by the SEC. The cases have since been dropped.
\nGiven the SEC\u2019s seeming about-face on crypto enforcement and Trump\u2019s potential conflicts of interest with the industry \u2014 with ties to the crypto firm World Liberty Financial and the launch of his own memecoin \u2014 some lawmakers are likely to question Atkins\u2019 views on digital assets at the confirmation hearing.
\nIf confirmed by the Senate, Atkins could return to a soon-to-be entirely Republican-controlled SEC, with Democratic Commissioner Caroline Crenshaw expected to leave by 2026.
\nIt\u2019s unclear if Atkins will have the votes to pass a confirmation hearing in the banking committee or a full floor vote in the Senate. Republicans hold a 53-seat majority in the chamber with only 51 votes required to confirm a nominee, and \u2014 with the exception of former Representative Matt Gaetz for US Attorney General \u2014 have not suggested that they intend to oppose any of Trump\u2019s picks for crucial government positions for any reason.
\nDemocratic opposition to Atkins\u2019 nomination
\nMassachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, the top Democrat on the banking committee who has often equated crypto with drug trafficking and illicit actions, said in a March 23 letter to Atkins that she had concerns about his potential role at the SEC after his consulting firm, Patomak Global Partners, was an adviser to defunct crypto exchange FTX. He was also an adviser to the advocacy group Chamber of Digital Commerce.\u00a0
\n\u201cYour deep involvement with FTX and other high-paying crypto clients raises questions about your approach to crypto regulation \u2014 and concerns about the extent of your knowledge of FTX\u2019s illegal activities,\u201d said Sen. Warren, adding:
\n\u201cYour financial ties to the industries you will soon regulate raise serious concerns about your ability to avoid conflicts of interest as a regulator.\u201d
\nSen. Warren suggested that some members of the Senate would likely question Trump\u2019s pick on the SEC recently dropping enforcement cases against crypto firms, reports that the US President\u2019s family had held talks with Binance about a stake in the company as well as a pardon for former CEO Changpeng Zhao, how he intends to apply securities laws to digital assets if confirmed, and the commission\u2019s recent opinion that memecoins were not securities.
\nShe hinted that Atkins may have also communicated with Republican SEC Commissioners Uyeda and Hester Peirce after his nomination.
\nRelated: SEC is waiting for a chair before setting crypto agenda \u2014 Hester Peirce
\nAhead of his hearing, Atkins has already met with Republican lawmakers on the committee, including Wyoming Senator Cynthia Lummis. Cointelegraph contacted Sen. Lummis\u2019 office for comment on the SEC commissioner\u2019s nomination but did not receive a response at the time of publication.
\nIf his nomination moves through the Banking Committee and the Senate, Atkins would likely be confirmed to a term ending in June 2031, taking over as chair from Uyeda. In addition to the commission dropping investigations and enforcement actions, the SEC acting chair has proposed abandoning rules requiring crypto firms to register with the agency.
\nMagazine: Ripple says SEC lawsuit \u2018over,\u2019 Trump at DAS, and more: Hodler\u2019s Digest, March 16 \u2013 22Read More<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Source: Cointelegraph.com NewsFormer US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) member Paul Atkins is scheduled to appear before lawmakers in the Senate Banking Committee on March 27 as part of the… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125715"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=125715"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125715\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=125715"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=125715"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=125715"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}