U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Paul Atkins has launched “Project Crypto.” It is a bold initiative to help US adapt to the finance era and establish clear regulations for digital assets.
This positive reinforcement has been on the rise ever since Trump took the office in January 2025. The president is all guns to make America the leader for crypto innovation.
He even posted an interesting video titled “Greatest Bitcoin explanation of all time”.
Pal Atkins said that this initiative is in response to the recent report released by The Working Group spearheaded by Donald Trump. He mentioned,
Unfortunately, my predecessor and the previous Administration did not share that vision. Thank goodness President Trump does and is leading on it. (Source: Sec.gov)
Atkins proposed to ease rules for licensing for multiple asset classes offered by brokerages under one single license. This will make offering all asset classes with one license a breeze.
This new initiative will relax some pertinent and detrimental rules related to offering grace periods for regulatory exemptions to early stage start-ups, ICOs and decentralized software builders. Without this relaxation the innovation development in the States would cease to exist as many builders in decentralised tech would fear litigation and reprisal from SEC.
The new SEC chair aims to equip the agency for internet capital markets and on-chain finance, reinforcing U.S. leadership in cryptocurrency.
Atkins Leading The Regulatory Shift In The US SEC
Since Atkins commenced his role at the SEC, the regulation for reinforcement has quietly ended as members have marched towards making America, pro-crypto.
In May, the SEC issued guidance stating that income from staking on proof-of-stake blockchains is not considered a securities transaction, as it stems from providing validation services.
In July, the SEC also approved in-kind creations and redemptions for crypto ETFs, a feature that facilitates how large institutions transfer assets into and out of these funds.
Crypto Regulation and Federal Agencies Of United States
The President’s Working Group on Digital Assets released a report in July titled “Strengthening American Leadership in Digital Financial Technology.”
It outlined policy recommendations, including establishing a clear market structure, enhancing interagency coordination, developing stablecoin policies, combating illicit finance, revising banking regulations, and addressing taxation.
Following the report’s recommendations, the SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) will jointly oversee the crypto industry, with the CFTC holding exclusive authority over spot crypto markets.