SEC boss Atkins announces course change when tokenization

In a pioneering speech at the Crypto Task Force Roundtable in Washington, the new chairman of the US stock exchange supervision SEC has announced comprehensive reforms for the handling of the authority with crypto-assets. At the center of his keynote was the tokenization of securities-i.e. the transition from traditional, centrally managed databases to blockchain-based booking systems.

Atkins is considered a market economy -oriented pragmatist with a pronounced reformer approach. Already in earlier functions-among other things as a SEC commissioner under President George W. Bush-he spoke out for moderate regulation and company-friendly framework conditions. In his current role as Chairman of the SEC under President Trump, he pursues the goal of establishing the US financial center as a global pioneer in crypto regulation. Atkins stands for a clear, technical regulation that does not slow down innovation, but actively promotes through legal certainty and transparent rules.

In his keynote, he made a comparison to the development of the music industry. As MP3 and digital formats once revolutionized the spread and use of audio, blockchain technology enables new forms of emission, possession and trade of securities. On-chain securities could automatically release dividends in the future, make illiquid assets tradable and make the capital markets more efficient as a whole.

The USA as the “crypto capital of the world”

In accordance with the crypto-friendly attitude of the current US government under President Donald Trump, SEC wants to create reasonable and innovation-friendly regulation, according to Atkins. The authority should no longer act through ad hoc punishment tracking, but should define clear rules. Atkin's support three areas in which you want to be particularly committed.

For example, Atkins criticizes that so far only four projects have regularly registered crypto securities. The current forms, such as the known form of S-1, are therefore unsuitable for the special features of blockchain projects. The SEC therefore wanted to check whether new registration exceptions or safe Harbors are necessary to enable innovation without endangering investors.

In addition to the regulation of securities, the new SEC boss also sees catching up to do with custody. A central obstacle was recently removed. The controversial Staff Accounting Bulletin 121 was withdrawn. Now Atkins wants to ensure that self-customer solutions for funds and financial advisors are also possible under certain conditions. In addition, he questioned the previous construct of the “Special Purpose Broker dealer”-only two such providers have so far been approved.

Last but not least, he spoke out for a modernization of the rules for alternative trading system (ATS) and promises that in the future “super apps”, i.e. platforms that combine securities and crypto trading, could be supported in the future. In his view, a few trade between securities and non-securities is not prohibited and should be used more.

From repression to cooperation

Atkins also criticized his predecessor with clear words. The SEC initially ignored crypto and later only regulated through punitive measures. It took a break that the authority at the beginning put its head in the sand, which caused the restrictive procedure in the later course. In the future, he wants to counter this with a so-called Fit-for-Purpose regulation, hence clear legal framework and an end to regulatory arbitrariness. Instead of driving companies abroad through legal uncertainty, the SEC innovation wants to enable domestic innovation.

Atkins also emphasized the new Crypto Task Force within the Sec, which was co-founded by the also crypto-friendly commissioners Hester Peirce and Mark Uyeda. The aim is a close, cross-departmental cooperation and thus a break with the previous silo mentality within the authority.

With his speech, Atkins thus marked a paradigmatic change in the attitude of the US stock exchange supervision compared to the crypto industry. If the SEC keeps this course, the tokenization of traditional financial instruments should gain a lot of driving.