US Securities and Exchange Commission chairman Paul Atkins announced a major villains in the approach to digital assets of the agency, which indicates the end of what he called a “shoot-and-axle-water” enforcement regime.
In his comments on the SEC Speaks Conference, Atkins said that the agency would start drawing up formal control proposals that are tailored to the crypto industry and open the door for federally regulated custody and trade of both effects and non-protections under one roof.
“The cryptem markets have been away in SEC Limbo for years. We have to stop treating innovation as a threat.”
‘New day on the sec’
Atkins condemned the earlier treatment of crypto companies by the SEC and accused the agency of offering little guidance while issuing summons in response to good faith.
He added that this led to a regulatory environment without trust and full of confusion. Atkins also criticized the failure of the committee to modernize registration processes for emerging technologies and promised to put an end to the pattern of opaque enforcement.
Instead, Atkin’s sec employees instructed to participate in the industry transparently and has already authorized the release of new staff guidelines, including frequently asked questions about broker dealer and transfer agent questions regarding digital assets.
He said:
“It is a new day on the sec. The message in the future is not ‘go to find out’ – it is ‘let’s sort it out together.'”
Unified Crypto Framework
Looking ahead, Atkins outlined a long-term vision that includes the allowance of SEC registrants to allow both effects and digital assets in a single regulated environment.
He said that this could lower the costs, encourage innovation and lay the foundation for what he called a “super-app” future in financial services.
Atkins also revealed plans to dismantle the strategic hub of the Agency for Innovation and Financial Technology, or Finhub, with the argument that the scary reputation of enforcement had not made it effective. Instead, he plans to bed in the full structure of the committee.
Although specific rule proposals are still under development, the speech of Atkins marked a clear deviation from the previous point of view of the agency and offered the clearest signal that the SEC is preparing to embrace the digital ecosystem of digital assets.