During a recent appearance on Fox Business, Paul Atkins, chairman at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), stated that the agency's various divisions and offices are currently being mobilized to focus on turning the U.S. into the "crypto capital of the world."
This comes after Atkins recently announced the launch of "Project Crypto," an ambitious initiative that is meant to modernize existing crypto rules.
Looking forward to more progress
Atkins recalled that the trailblazing GENIUS Act had been passed by the House in July and signed into law. Atkins described the passage of the key stablecoin legislation as a "very good step forward."
He also added that there are currently other bills in Congress that are being considered.
Atkins says that he is "looking forward" to much more progress in the near future.
That said, as reported by U.Today, Republican Commissioner Hester Peirce recently stated that the SEC does not necessarily have to wait for the passage of these bills in order to act on crypto. Peirce recently told Bloomberg that the U.S. has enough existing authority to do "a lot of work" in the realm of crypto.
Moving away from hostility
According to Atkins, who took the reins of the agency in April following the departure of former Chair Gary Gensler, the agency is focused on providing certainty for market participants.
He claims that there was a hostile environment for people who were trying to innovate. "Lawyers couldn't give their clients opinions as to what was legal or not, and the SEC and other agencies sent very shifting views as to, you know, what was undergirding their view towards crypto assets, and so we are changing that…" Atkins added.
Crypto custody issues
The SEC boss has stressed that issues around custody are very important, adding that digital assets should be stored securely (especially if they are held for investors).
"So, we are looking at the rules that have been around for 90 years or so," he stated when referring to custody.
He has emphasized that these rules have to be adapted to the novel technology, which remains one of the SEC's top priorities.
Dan Burgin
Vladislav Sopov
U.Today Editorial Team