Key takeout
Confirmation of Paul Atkins’ SEC Chairman is delayed due to financial disclosure documents being held up despite hearings by the Senate Committee. The SEC under Mark Uyeda has removed several investigations and lawsuits against prominent crypto companies.
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Congressional reporter Eleanor Mueller for Semafor said confirmation of Trump’s election, which was chaired by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), has been delayed.
The documents include Atkins’ financial disclosures, with a particular focus on marriage to the billionaire family. His wife’s family has linked to Tamko Building Products LLC, the leading manufacturer of shingles on residential roofs. Forbes reported the company’s revenue of $1.2 billion in 2023.
These family ties provide a complex web of financial holdings that Atkins needs to disclose. The process of thoroughly documenting and reviewing these possessions takes time, and there is a delay in his confirmation.
However, Atkins still appears to be on track for the role of the SEC chair. Reporters noted that Senate bank chairman Tim Scott is targeting March 27 for a committee hearing on Atkins’ nomination.
The Senate Banking Committee is also planning a bipartisan meeting on Atkins’ nomination this Friday. The meeting may include discussions and preparations related to future hearings.
“It’s not yet clear whether the committee has Atkins paperwork in hand, but in any case, this is the most momentum we’ve ever seen,” Mueller wrote in X today.
Delay checking is not actually abnormal. Previous SEC chairs such as Gary Gensler and Jay Clayton also experienced confirmation hearings in March.
Gary Gensler’s first Senate Banking Committee hearing occurred on March 2, 2021, about a month after his appointment was received. He was confirmed by the Senate on April 20, 2021.
Trump nominated Atkins as SEC chair on December 4, 2024. The nomination documents were officially delivered to the Senate on January 20th.
Atkins is seen as a procrypt advocate in favor of a less aggressive regulatory approach compared to his predecessor, Jensler. He believes in providing clarity and removing regulatory barriers so that the crypto industry can grow in the US.
Cryptographic ETFs are unlikely to be approved before Atkins verification
In a statement earlier this month, Bloomberg ETF analyst James Sefert said he would be surprised if any of the queued Altcoin ETFs were approved before Atkins was confirmed as the new SEC chairman.
Seyffart suggested that anything that could be postponed would likely be delayed until Atkins takes office. He also said the SEC has historically used procedural delays to extend the decision deadline, often up to 240 days.
ETF experts believe that installing new chairs by May or June will help promote approval, but noted that quick approval is not guaranteed even after Atkins took office.
However, some important aspects are being actively evolving while waiting for Atkins confirmation.
Mark Uyeda, who had been SEC chair since Gary Gensler’s departure, has established a cryptographic task force led by Commissioner Hester Peirce, cancelling rules requiring financial companies to record Crypto Holdings as liabilities.
The department also dropped several investigations and lawsuits filed during Gensler’s tenure against companies such as Coinbase, Consensey, Robinhood, Gemini, Uniswap and Opensey.
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