SEC Chair Atkins responds to crypto conflicts of interest, says agency will ‘enforce laws where indicated’
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Paul Atkins addressed questions about conflicts of interest as President Donald Trump and his family's cryptocurrency involvement continue to be a concern.
Atkins was asked by a student about his thoughts on conflicts of interest in crypto on Thursday during a conference hosted by the Psaros Center for Financial Markets and Policy at Georgetown University.
"Well, I mean, if there are conflicts of interest, we'll attempt to root them out then, but lay down standards," Atkins said in response.
World Liberty Financial, a crypto company backed by some members of the Trump family, had been put back into the spotlight after a New York Times investigation found that the Trump administration had been involved in two deals made in quick succession involving WLF and the approval of thousands of U.S. artificial intelligence chips to the United Arab Emirates.
NYT reported that UAE-founded investment firm MGX said it was investing $2 billion into the crypto exchange behemoth Binance using stablecoins. Then, in May, it was revealed that MGX made its investment using WLF's newly launched USD1 stablecoin.
Overall, Trump and his family's crypto ventures have been a point of contention among many Democratic lawmakers as they and their Republican counterparts work on bills to regulate the crypto industry at large.
Notably, the SEC does not currently have direct jurisdiction over WLF. When asked by The Block during a press briefing following the conference whether conflicts of interest in general in the Trump administration had an effect on the SEC overseeing crypto, Atkins said his agency has a "job to do," adding that he could not speak to any particular company or product.
"There are statutes, and so we will enforce those laws and investigate where it's indicated and necessary," Atkins said.
Atkins' SEC run
Atkins has taken a starkly different approach to regulating crypto following his predecessor, Gary Gensler, since becoming chair in April. Gensler took a cautious approach to crypto and brought several cases against large crypto firms, saying that most cryptocurrencies were securities, while being criticized for his regulation-by-enforcement approach.
Since April, Atkins has taken several steps toward being friendly toward digital assets.
In June, Atkins said he had directed his staff to consider an "innovation exemption" that he said would quickly allow firms to "bring on-chain products and services to market." On Tuesday, Atkins said he planned to put that exemption in place by the end of the year.
Atkins said as part of the innovation exemption, the SEC was looking to create a "foundation" to address what a security is, during Thursday's conference hosted by the Psaros Center.
"That's the kind of groundwork that we need to give so that lawyers can give opinions so we can give guidance to people as to what they have so they have certainty," Atkins said.
Atkins has also embarked on an initiative called "Project Crypto" to modernize the agency's existing rules around digital assets. SEC staff has also released a few statements on staking, including saying that most proof-of-stake features do not fall under its remit, and later clarified that certain liquid staking activities do not involve securities.
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