Howdy! Ed here. 

It’s hard to recall a time when there was so much anticipation for a government watchdog.

And yet with President-elect Donald Trump’s nomination of Paul Atkins to head the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the crypto industry’s giddy with anticipation.

“Paul Atkins is an excellent choice for SEC chair,” tweeted Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong. 

Crypto lawyer Gabriel Shapiro posted a GIF of Jim from “The Office” saying “YES!” over and over again.

Even John Reed Stark, a former chief of the SEC’s Internet Enforcement unit who drew the ire of the industry for defending Gary Gensler’s crypto crackdown, had nice things to say.

“My take is that Paul Atkins might become the greatest SEC chair in US history,” Stark said in a post on X.

What gives? Why is everyone so high on this guy?

For starters, Atkins, who served on the commission from 2002 to 2008, is a Washington lawyer who was quick to recognise the legal import of cryptocurrencies.

Moreover, as Aleks Gilbert reported, Atkins has kept one foot in the traditional finance arena even as he acted in the crypto space. 

He was the chairman of BATS Global Markets, a top operator of electronic securities markets in the US and Europe, from 2012 to 2015. 

Two years later, he was named co-chair of the Token Alliance, which operates under the auspices of the Digital Chamber of Commerce and is part of the rapidly expanding network of crypto trade groups opening up shop in Washington.

There is little doubt that Atkins’ appointment will put an end to the SEC’s crypto crackdown. 

Under Gensler, the agency argued that most cryptocurrencies and related products, such as staking services and NFTs, should be regulated by securities laws like  stocks and  bonds.

When the SEC sued Coinbase, Kraken, Binance, and a host of other industry players to force them to register the coins available on their sites, the industry cried foul and resisted. 

If Atkins is confirmed, the SEC will be led by a chair appointed by a president who has promised to be the ‘Bitcoin president.’

Look for Atkins to order up a “special study” of the digital asset industry after he is confirmed by the Senate next year, said Stark.

He wouldn’t be surprised if Atkins appoints Commissioner Hester Peirce, a longtime supporter of the industry, to lead an effort to form some type of digital asset framework and regulatory enforcement programme more to the industry’s liking. 

After all, Trump consulted with Big Crypto before nominating Atkins, Stark noted in his post.

Most intriguingly, Stark wondered whether Atkins believes cryptocurrencies are in fact not securities.

That would be music to the ears of Armstrong and his peers. 

For years, they’ve been arguing that blockchain-based assets are so novel that they need their own laws to govern them.

But that would also mean the SEC may not have standing to supervise crypto. 

It’s not a stretch to say that would suit Big Crypto just fine. 

ICYMI

• Paul Grewal, the chief legal officer of Coinbase, said December 6 that a plot by the Biden Administration to press lenders to drop crypto clients was “no conspiracy theory” but a very real plan. The lawyer said he now has the evidence to prove it — documents from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

• President-elect Trump picked David O. Sacks — a former PayPal chief operating officer and early Bitcoin advocate — will serve as Trump’s crypto and artificial intelligence czar.

• Alex Mashinsky, the founder and CEO of bankrupt crypto lender Celsius, pleaded guilty to two fraud charges on December 4 and agreed to return $48 million, according to US prosecutors.

Story of the Week

How insiders and bots crashed Hawk Tuah Girl’s memecoin

Investors who bought Hawk Tuah Girl’s token are sour. The HAWK token crashed more than 90% shortly after launch. Osato Avan-Nomayo reports.

Post of the Week

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse and Gensler defender Stark had a public spat on X after the latest episode of “60 Minutes” While Stark rejected Garlinghouse’s assertion that he was “Gensler’s shill,” he seemingly sided with industry pundits arguing that the SEC’s crypto crackdown should come to an end.

Comment of the Week

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