Paul Atkins has officially been appointed as the new chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for the United States of America. This comes into effect after the resignation of Gary Gensler as the SEC chair following the oath-taking ceremony of Donald Trump in January this year.
Reportedly, Gary Gensler took over the office back in April 2021 and headed the department for about 46 months. During his period, he acted as a nightmare for money markets like cryptocurrency. He was known for his harsh approach toward the crypto space which led to major differences between SEC and the crypto community.
However, things took a u-turn following Trump’s win. With Trump entering the office, Gensler took an exit and Paul Atkins will be leading the government watchdog agency from now onwards. As per various reports, Paul has multiple times spoken in favor of Web3 and blockchain technology. This suggests a high possibility of reducing SEC attacks on the crypto space under his leadership.
Through this article, we will understand more about the newly elected chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Paul Atkins.
Who Is Paul Atkins?
Paul Atkins is an American-born businessman with over 3 decades of industrial knowledge. He has been nominated by Donald J Trump and received the Senate’s approval to act as the chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Per the official data, Paul hails from Lillington, a town in North Carolina. He grew up in Tampa, a part of Florida. Reportedly, from childhood, Atkins developed higher-than-average academic skills by scoring impressive numbers in academics. He graduated in 1980 from Wofford College after which he enrolled in Vanderbilt University School of Law in 1983.
Atkin’s Professional Career!
After completing his education, his career began as a lawyer for Davis Pol and Wardwell in New York. His role primarily focused on international clients by providing them with private and public securities. Moreover, Atkins assisted in mergers and acquisitions for his clients along with streamlined compliance by taking into consideration the SEC guidelines.
A major milestone was achieved after being picked up by the SEC in 1990 as the staff member for then SEC chair Arthur Levitt and Richard Breeden. Under their leadership, Paul enhanced various skills including management accountability and financial communication.
By 2002, Atkins became a commissioner at the SEC and held the position for the next six years. After this, he launched Pantomak, his in-house consultancy that focused on advising fintech and cryptocurrency startups globally. Moving forward to 2016, he was added to Trump’s business forum to advise on policy and strategy for economic issues.
Paul Atkins Personal Net Worth and Life
As a part of the protocol, Paul Atkins has officially revealed the net worth of Paul Atkins and his family to be over $327 million. The report details were officially shared with the U.S. Office of Government Ethics. As per reports, a major portion of this net worth comes from their holding in Patomak Global Partners.
Paul Atkins owns ~$50 million worth of equity in Patomak, $250,000 and $500,000 in call options from Securitize, a blockchain company on real-world asset (RWA) tokenization, and between $50,000 and $100,000 worth of equity in Pontoro, a fintech startup.
On the other hand, his in-laws control a 75% stake in Tamko, founded by her grandfather. Reportedly, this is considered to be the major portion of the Atkins couple’s net worth.
Moreover, as a part of standard law, Atkins will step down as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at Patomak. Adding to this, he has been instructed to relinquish all his crypto-related investments, including the call options in Securitize. This step is taken to avoid any conflicts in the future.
What’s New In The SEC With Paul Atkins?
The crypto community is highly anticipating Paul to utilize his pro-business experience during his leadership in the SEC. Moreover, marketers are hoping for him to reconsider the strict and rigid regulations implemented by ex-SEC chair, Gary Gensler. Notably, this includes many rules that were set back him taking into consideration the crypto accounting.
Will America Become A World Crypto Capital Under His Leadership?
Paul Atkins is under high pressure as the Trump 2.0 administration has made huge promises of making America the crypto capital and setting up a Bitcoin strategic reserve.
Despite the ongoing market uncertainty over the past few days, the crypto market has experienced a meteoric surge following the victory of Donald Trump as the President of the United States of America for the second time.
With Donald Trump and Paul Atkins preparing to create a huge impact during their tenure by focusing on digital assets, the feasibility of the plan still brings doubt among major institutes.
Furthermore, amid the ongoing market situation and the Trump tariff war, the United States of America has to micro-evaluate the possible outcomes of any regulations as it could impact the state on a great level.
Conclusion:
Looking into the past events, the crypto community had welcomed the decision of Aktins appointment with open hands. Reportedly, following the joyful news, the Bitcoin price smashed its milestone price of $100,000 with the altcoin market displaying a major price rally. This highlights the trust of the people in the capabilities of this person.
However, the markets are highly volatile as of today, making it important to understand the dynamics before entering into any asset investment.
Also Read: Ripple XRP VS. SEC: Will New Chair Paul Atkins Close Case on April 16?
