The SEC has just announced “Project Crypto”: What You Need to Know
On Thursday, Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Paul Atkins delivered an address informing the new era of top regulators. After the SEC has fought the blockchain industry for many years through enforcement measures, newly appointed Atkins has announced an initiative called “Project Cryptography” that turns the United States into the “crypto capital of the world.”
Atkins’ speech comes the day after the White House releases 166 pages Report Just three months after his tenure leading top financial regulators, he outlines his unique approach to regulating the crypto industry. Atkins repeatedly signaled plans to take a significantly different approach to cryptography regulations than his predecessor. Gary GenserIt was widely violated by the industry.
In his speech on Thursday, Atkins laid out a set of priorities for SEC staff, including drafting “clear and simple rules of the road” for various crypto acts, including custody and transactions, and allowing intermediaries such as exchanges to become “super apps” offering a wide range of services.
“As our regulatory stance was tailored to meet innovation with thoughtfulness rather than fear, America’s leadership position has become stronger,” Atkins said.
New seconds
Atkins’ speech on Thursday reflects the clearest overview of the institution’s new approach. It comes as cryptography controls the headlines Bitcoin Reaching Record highs and Fortune 500 companies search Blockchain project.
In his speech, Atkins detailed his staff’s top initiatives. After many companies flee under Gensler, they take crypto activity back to the US, modernizing the SEC custody requirements for companies that want to hold digital assets, allowing companies to experiment with new types of chain technologies, such as “submission” of stocks. create Blockchain versions of assets such as stocks and money market funds.
“Under my leadership, the committee encourages builders in our country, rather than restricting builders in our country with all the rules of deficits and one size,” Atkins said.
The new chair’s challenge is to establish its own rules as Congress continues to discuss the broader laws that regulate the market structure of digital assets. The House has passed its own version of the bill, but the Senate has yet to inform its own approach.
A sharp break from the days of Jensler
Under Gensler, the SEC cracked down on top crypto companies Coinbase and Geminiclaiming that they operate outside of long-term securities laws and present a threat to consumers. This is part of the response to the prominent collapse of projects such as Sam Bankman Freed’s FTX in 2022.
The Crypto industry, plagued by Gensler’s campaign, fought back by raising hundreds of millions of dollars in the 2024 election, including Donald Trump, who was dominated by an office that promises to embrace the sector on the campaign trail and serves as a digitally-asset-friendly official. They included Atkins, a former SEC committee member who served as an advisor to crypto projects after leaving the agency in 2008.
Even before Atkins was sworn in April as agency head, the SEC began rolling back Gensler’s actions in a reversal Leading Commissioner Hester Perth adopted the moniker called “cryptomama” because of his openness to the industry. It included the removal of a series of lawsuits against companies such as Coinbase and boot The agency-wide initiative engaged in creating new rules.
DC’s Gensler empaths have already raised the alarm bell that a loose approach to Crypto will lead to a new era of fraud and collapse like FTX. “As happened when (Atkins) was an SEC commissioner from 2002 to 2008, Wall Street mega-farms and politically preferred businesses are protected and investors are left to protect themselves,” said Dennis Kelleher, CEO of Better Market, a consumer advocacy organization.