Paul Atkins, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Patomac Global Partners LLC, during a Bloomberg TV interview at the Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills, California, USA, Monday, May 1, 2017. I will talk about it.
David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images
According to a post by Truth Social, President-elect Donald Trump plans to nominate former SEC Commissioner Paul Atkins to lead the SEC, keeping his promise to create a crypto-friendly administration.
Atkins, currently CEO of Patomac Global Partners, is a well-known veteran of the financial world, particularly in Republican politics. He was widely expected to take the position of the country’s top financial market regulator.
If confirmed, Atkins will replace Gary Gensler, who has been widely criticized in the digital currency community for his extensive efforts to police the $3.5 trillion cryptocurrency market. Trump has promised an easier path for Bitcoin and its myriad peers, and the market has soared since his Nov. 5 presidential election victory.
“Paul has a proven track record as a common-sense regulatory leader,” Trump said in a statement. “I believe in the promise.” statement. “He also recognizes that digital assets and other innovations are essential to making America greater than ever.”
Mr. Trump’s position on cryptocurrencies reflects the broader support for deregulation that prevailed during his first term as president.
Mr. Atkins served as SEC Commissioner from 2002 to 2008 under then-President George W. Bush. Previously, he held other positions in the regulator’s corporate finance department.
In addition to taking a pro-cryptocurrency stance, the potential candidates criticized some of the reforms that emerged from the 2008 global financial crisis. In particular, he criticized the Dodd-Frank Act as being too burdensome for the banking industry.
