“The crypto markets have been languishing in SEC limbo for years. We must stop treating innovation like a threat.”
Instead, Atkins directed SEC staff to engage transparently with the industry and has already authorized the release of new staff guidance, including FAQs addressing broker-dealer and transfer agent questions related to digital assets.
He said:
“It is a new day at the SEC. The message going forward is not ‘go figure it out’ — it’s ‘let’s figure it out together.’”
He said this could lower costs, encourage innovation, and lay the groundwork for what he called a “super-app” future in financial services.
Atkins also revealed plans to dismantle the agency’s Strategic Hub for Innovation and Financial Technology, or FinHub, arguing that its narrow scope and enforcement-heavy reputation had made it ineffective. Instead, he plans to embed innovation priorities across the Commission’s full structure.
