Donald Trump, who will take office in the White House in January, has chosen cryptocurrency supporter Paul Atkins to be the next chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Unchained reported, citing sources.
Gary Gensler recently announced that he would step down as SEC Chairman on January 20, 2025. At that time, many popular candidates for the next chairman speculated that the next chairman would be more friendly to the stock market and cryptocurrency. And Paul Atkins was on the list at the time.
Paul Atkins is an American financial expert who served as SEC Commissioner from 2002 to 2008. Prior to serving as SEC Commissioner, Atkins worked as a Wall Street attorney focusing on a variety of corporate transactions, including public and private securities offerings and mergers and acquisitions.
Atkins is currently CEO of Patomak Global Partners, a firm specializing in consulting to the financial services industry, covering regulatory compliance, risk and crisis management. He is also Co-Chair of Token Alliance, an industry-led initiative overseen by the Digital Chamber of Commerce that provides critical resources for tokenized networks and applications.
Karoline Leavitt, a spokesperson for the Trump-Vance transition team, said Trump would announce the decision "when it is made." Atkins would also need to be confirmed by the Senate unless Trump chooses to seek a recess appointment while the Senate is in recess.
Other contenders for the SEC chairmanship include Robinhood Markets Inc. legal director Dan Gallagher and Willkie Farr & Gallagher partner Robert Stebbins, although Dan Gallagher has stated that he does not intend to serve as SEC chairman.
This article Trump may nominate crypto-supporter Paul Atkins as SEC chairman first appeared on Chain News ABMedia.