SEC Turns Softer on Crypto Regulation in Atkins’s First Year

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The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has shifted toward a looser approach to cryptocurrency regulation and enforcement since the Trump administration took office, Cointelegraph reported on April 20.

In the year since Paul Atkins became SEC chair in April 2025, the agency’s regulatory stance has diverged sharply from that of his predecessor, Gary Gensler.

During the 2024 presidential campaign, Donald Trump pledged to remove Gensler, pursue a national Bitcoin reserve and oppose a central bank digital currency, or CBDC. After Trump won the election in November 2024, Gensler stepped down in January 2025. SEC Commissioner Mark Uyeda then served as acting chair until Senate confirmation.

The SEC had signaled a policy shift even before Atkins took office. Under Uyeda, the agency launched a crypto task force led by Commissioner Hester Peirce. Starting with the Coinbase case in February 2025, it also withdrew a series of civil enforcement actions and investigations involving major crypto firms.

In Atkins’s first year, the SEC expanded what Cointelegraph described as industry-friendly policies. The agency approved exchange-traded funds tied to major cryptocurrencies and signed a memorandum of understanding with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission on cooperation in digital-asset regulation. It also issued interpretive guidance stating that most cryptocurrencies are not considered securities under federal law.

Atkins recently told CNBC that he had created the new SEC he promised when he took office and shifted the agency away from an enforcement-driven approach toward a more transparent framework.