Author: Turner Wright
Compiled by: Deep Tide TechFlow
Deep Tide Guide: On April 21, 2025, Paul Atkins was sworn in as Chairman of the SEC, marking exactly one year today. Over this year, the SEC has dismissed multiple lawsuits against crypto companies, approved several crypto ETFs, and signed a memorandum of understanding with the CFTC on coordinating digital asset regulation. However, allegations of conflicts of interest against Atkins by Democratic lawmakers are heating up, and the SEC is still awaiting Congress to pass a market structure bill to clarify its jurisdiction over crypto assets.
On April 21, 2025, Paul Atkins was sworn in as Chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). As of today, it has been exactly one year.
This year, the SEC has undergone a fundamental shift in its regulatory and enforcement stance on digital assets, in stark contrast to the approach during the tenure of former Chairman Gary Gensler.
During the 2024 election campaign, Trump made several promises to the crypto industry: replacing Gensler, establishing a national Bitcoin (BTC) reserve, and opposing the issuance of a U.S. central bank digital currency. After winning the election in November 2024, Gensler resigned in January 2025, and SEC Commissioner Mark Uyeda served as acting chairman until the Senate confirmed Atkins' nomination.
Caption: SEC Chairman Paul Atkins being interviewed on CNBC's Squawk Box on April 20, 2026
Source:CNBC
Even Before Atkins Took Office, the SEC Was Already Shifting
Even before Atkins officially assumed his role, the SEC began sending signals. During Uyeda's acting tenure, the SEC established a crypto working group led by Commissioner Hester Peirce and, starting in February 2025, began dismissing civil enforcement actions and investigations against crypto companies, with Coinbase being the first.
In the 12 months since Atkins officially took office, the SEC has introduced a series of policies widely seen as favorable by the industry:
- Terminated multiple enforcement actions against crypto companies
- Approved several exchange-traded funds (ETFs) linked to various crypto assets
- Signed a memorandum of understanding with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) on coordinating digital asset regulation
- Issued an interpretive notice clarifying that most cryptocurrencies do not constitute securities under federal law
Atkins himself said in an interview with CNBC on April 21: "The year has passed quickly, but I feel we have made significant progress. When I took office, I promised a new day for the SEC, and we have delivered. We have moved away from the past approach of regulating through enforcement and operating opaquely, and the crypto space is the best example of this."
Source:CFTC Chairman Michael Selig
Democratic Lawmakers Focus Fire on Conflicts of Interest
While the crypto industry largely welcomes Atkins' approach, criticism from Congressional Democrats is escalating. The focus is on potential conflicts of interest, as some of the dismissed investigations and enforcement actions involved companies linked to Trump and his family.
Last week, Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren accused Atkins of misleading lawmakers during his Congressional testimony. In a letter dated April 15, Warren pointed out that the SEC's own fiscal year 2025 data shows the number of enforcement actions has dropped to the lowest in a decade.
Despite the clear direction of case dismissals and regulatory relaxation, the SEC is still awaiting Congress to pass a market structure bill to formally clarify the boundaries of its regulatory authority over crypto assets. Until the bill is enacted, the SEC's crypto regulatory framework remains in a transitional state of "administrative guidance + case-by-case handling."
