President-elect Donald Trump has nominated pro-crypto Paul Atkins to serve as the new chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
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Atkins has served as SEC Chair before. He held the top role at the Wall Street regulator between 2002 and 2008 under former U.S. President George W. Bush. Atkins has also held multiple other roles at the SEC over the years, including in the division of corporate finance.
Trump announced Atkins nomination to lead the SEC on his Truth Social account. Atkins is a well-respected veteran of the financial world and known within Republican political circles. He is currently serving as CEO of management consulting firm Patomak Global Partners.
Supporting Crypto
In addition to being a known quantity on Wall Street, Atkins has a reputation for supporting both deregulation and cryptocurrencies. He has expressed his support for crypto in the past and has also criticized some of the reforms that were instituted after the 2008 financial crisis, saying regulations have been too onerous on the U.S. banking industry.
Atkins will succeed current SEC chair Gary Gensler, who has announced that he will resign when Trump is inaugurated in January. Gensler was a polarizing figure on Wall Street and disliked in the crypto community for his efforts to clamp down on the market for digital coins and tokens.
Trump has promised to make the U.S. the “crypto capital of the world,” and prices for Bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies have soared since his re-election on November 5.
Is Bitcoin a Buy?
Most Wall Street firms don’t offer ratings or price targets on Bitcoin, so instead we look at the cryptocurrency’s three-month performance. As one can see in the chart below, the price of BTC has risen 68% in the last 12 weeks, which is a strong result.
