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US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Paul Atkins took aim at the previous administration’s crypto policies in the regulator’s latest roundtable event exploring digital asset regulation.
In a Monday event led by the SEC’s crypto task force titled “DeFi and the American Spirit,” Atkins said the prior administration, suggesting the agency’s stance on digital assets under former chair Gary Gensler, took a heavy-handed approach through the courts. He added that the SEC’s policies on staking as a service provider needed congressional approval to have lasting authority, and touted self-custody as a “foundational American value.”
“I’m in favor of affording greater flexibility to market participants to self-custody crypto assets, especially where intermediation imposes unnecessary transaction costs or restricts the ability to engage in staking and other onchain activities,” Atkins said at the roundtable event.
“Unfortunately, the prior administration undermined innovation in self-custodial digital wallets and other onchain technologies by asserting through regulatory actions that the developers of such software may be conducting brokerage activities.”
The roundtable event was the fifth one in 2025, organized by the SEC’s crypto task force, headed by Commissioner Hester Peirce. Previous roundtable discussions focused on crypto trading regulation, custody, tokenization, and the status of tokens as securities. As of Monday, no additional roundtable events appeared on the SEC’s calendar.
Related: Securities laws go beyond simple definitions — SEC Commissioner
SEC Commissioner Caroline Crenshaw said “…these roundtables have given us a lot to grapple with, to say the least. While the series was billed as a ‘spring sprint towards crypto clarity,’ I am unsure whether we’ve identified much that can be simply or quickly clarified […] With issues this complex and stakes this high, it’s better to do it right than fast.”
SEC U-turn under Atkins and Donald Trump?
Since President Donald Trump took office and Gensler departed the SEC in January, the agency has seemingly taken a different approach to digital assets, both through its regulatory authority and in the courts.
In February, the SEC agreed to drop an enforcement action against Coinbase after less than two years in court. Roughly a month later, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse announced that the SEC would drop its appeal following a court decision against the firm stemming from a 2020 enforcement action.
The leadership panels at both significant US financial regulators, the SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), will likely be short-staffed in the near future following resignations and terms expiring for commissioners. Lawmakers in the Senate Agriculture Committee are scheduled to consider Trump’s nomination of Brian Quintenz as CFTC Chair on Tuesday.
Magazine: SEC’s U-turn on crypto leaves key questions unanswered