Trump picks Paul Atkins to replace SEC Chair Gary Gensler: report

President-elect Donald Trump has picked Paul Atkins, the pro-crypto former commissioner of the US Securities and Exchange Commission, as the next chair to replace Gary Gensler.

According to the latest report by Unchained, Trump has reached out to the former SEC commissioner.

However, as at the time of writing, Paul Atkins had not officially commented on the selection.

Laura Shin, crypto journalist and host of the Unchained podcast, shared the breaking news via X on Dec. 3.

Laura Shin

@laurashin

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🚨 SCOOP: Trump Taps Paul Atkins for Next SEC Chair, Making Good on His Crypto Promises Atkins has been vocal in his support of the industry and was the first libertarian to serve as an SEC commissioner under President George W. Bush. by @vronirwin (link in next tweet)

8:16 pm · 3 Dec 2024

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Trump eyes Paul Atkins for SEC Chair’s role

The news follows reports that Trump was set to pick a new chair to replace the outgoing Gensler at the helm of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Gensler, increasingly unpopular throughout his tenure at the SEC, announced his departure from the agency two weeks ago.

In his announcement, the exiting SEC chair noted he would be stepping down on January 20, 2025 – the day Trump is inaugurated into office for another term as the 47^th president of the United States.

Notably, Trump promised to fire Gensler “on day one” in office. But with the resignation in, the attention has over the past few weeks focused on who could replace him.

Atkins, who was SEC commissioner between 2002 and 2008, is a pro-crypto candidate that had been widely tipped to take over.

The selection by Donald Trump means the incoming administration is keen on getting the ball rolling in the crypto space after a “regulation by enforcement” approach plagued Gensler’s reign.

Major crypto news in the US

These include lawsuits against crypto companies, exchanges, protocols and individuals.

The high profile cases include the legal tussle with Ripple Labs over the XRP token, which the SEC claimed was a security.

Others are lawsuits against Coinbase, Kraken and Binance and Wells Notices against NFT platform OpenSea and trading platform Robinhood.

Atkins’ potential approval as the next SEC chair is one of the many early positive signals from the Trump team that the next four years may be different for the US crypto industry.

There are also plans to have a “crypto czar”, while lawmakers are also looking to create a Bitcoin strategic reserve for the US.

Cryptocurrencies have rallied since Trump’s election with Bitcoin surging to near $100,000.

XRP has however been on a rollercoaster since Gensler announced his departure and has risen more than 400% in the past 30 days.