SEC's Atkins: U.S. Ten Years Late to Crypto, Vows Quick Reforms

Paul Atkins, SEC Chair, told fintech leaders on October 16, 2025, that the ￰0￱ crypto innovation by ten ￰1￱ regulatory hurdles under Gary Gensler pushed projects to Singapore and ￰2￱ highlighted how unclear rules stifled growth and drove capital ￰3￱ Shifts to Supporting Startups Atkins pledged to transform the SEC into an innovation ￰4￱ proposed exemptions for crypto startups to test models without heavy securities ￰5￱ aligns with the Trump administration’s push to bring blockchain development back to the ￰6￱ and Regulatory Streamlining Atkins endorsed superapps, platforms merging payments, investing, and banking, common in ￰7￱ urged digital coordination with agencies like the CFTC to simplify ￰8￱ changes aim to address fragmented rules, though no launch timeline was ￰9￱ Leadership Drives Policy Change Gensler left the SEC in January 2025 after high-profile enforcement against Binance and ￰10￱ cases were dropped by March.

Atkins’ lighter regulatory approach coincides with a 136% surge in crypto trading volumes in Q3 2025.