Paul Atkins called the right to self-custody a “foundational American value” when addressing regulators and industry leaders discussing DeFi.
US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Paul Atkins took aim at the previous administration’s crypto policies in the regulator’s latest roundtable event exploring digital asset regulation.
In a Monday event led by the SEC’s crypto task force titled “DeFi and the American Spirit,” Atkins said the prior administration, suggesting the agency’s stance on digital assets under former chair Gary Gensler, took a heavy-handed approach through the courts. He added that the SEC’s policies on staking as a service provider needed congressional approval to have lasting authority, and touted self-custody as a “foundational American value.”
“I’m in favor of affording greater flexibility to market participants to self-custody crypto assets, especially where intermediation imposes unnecessary transaction costs or restricts the ability to engage in staking and other onchain activities,” Atkins said at the roundtable event.
