Paul Atkins, President Donald Trump’s Solana and Cardano, that it alleged were unregistered securities. The SEC also targeted celebrities like Kim Kardashian and Lindsay Lohan for promoting tokens, among other individuals. The crypto industry fought back and argued that decades-old securities law did not apply to new technology. Executives like Brian Armstrong, the CEO of Coinbase, argued that the government should draft legislation to account for blockchains, rather than crack down on the crypto sector.
Atkins was previously SEC commissioner from 2002 to 2008 under President George W. Bush. Most recently, he served as CEO of his financial services consultancy Patomak Global Partners. He's been supportive of the crypto industry’s calls for regulation. “The collapse of FTX was this international debacle because I think the U.S. didn’t make our rules accommodating to this new technology,” he said in a 2023 interview.
As part of his ethics agreement, Atkins also agreed to step down from a position on Chamber of Digital Commerce’s Token Alliance, a policy group that advocates for crypto companies.
Correction, March 26, 2025: Atkins was a commissioner at, not chair of, the SEC from 2002 to 2008.
