US Senator Elizabeth Warren sent a letter to Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman nominee Paul Atkins questioning his call for less strict crypto regulations and potential conflicts of interest. The inquiry precedes his upcoming Senate Banking Committee hearing.
Elizabeth Warren Presses Paul Atkins On Crypto Regulations
On Monday, Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren, Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Banking, revealed she sent a 34-page letter to President Trump’s SEC chairman nominee, Paul Atkins.
In the letter, the crypto-critic lawmaker expressed her worry about his potential approach to crypto regulation, considering “the decisions you make as Chair will have significant implications for the long-term health of American commerce and economic growth.”
Senator Warren highlighted the SEC nominee’s extensive experience in financial services and capital markets but noted concerns about Atkins’ record as a regulator and key advisory role in “historic failures of the financial system.”
She outlined Atkins’ positions as an SEC Commissioner during the 2008 financial crisis and his advisory role to the now-collapsed crypto platform FTX in 2022 as key reasons to question his judgment and “ability to serve as an effective SEC Chair” if confirmed.
In addition to advising a number of crypto companies and boards, you have served as an advisor to the Chamber of Digital Commerce since 2020 and to FTX for the 10 months leading up to its collapse in November 2022. Your deep involvement with FTX and other high-paying crypto clients raises questions about your approach to crypto regulation—and concerns about the extent of your knowledge of FTX’s illegal activities.
The Democratic Senator also considers Atkins’ advocacy for “weaker” SEC rules concerning. As a result, she asked the SEC Chair nominee about several industry-related issues, including his view on the SEC’s role in regulating the crypto spot market, how the Howey test applies to tokens, and the recent dismissal of several crypto litigations, including Coinbase, Kraken, Ripple, Robinhood, Gemini, and Yuga Labs.
Trump Administration’s Potential ‘Conflicts Of Interest’
Regarding the potential conflicts of interest, Warren questioned whether Atkins was consulted by acting chair Mark Uyeda or any other SEC staff members regarding the Commission’s request for a stay in the Binance case and the pause of Tron founder Justin Sun’s lawsuit.
You also have significant potential conflicts of interest through your work on behalf of corporate interests—and a long record of advocating for weaker protections for investors and weaker rules to prevent wrongdoing by giant corporations.
The Senator noted the rumors of the alleged talks between the Trump family and Binance’s US arm to acquire a stake in the company, which, as Bitcoinist reported, have been denied by both parties.
Additionally, she asked about potential conflicts of interest related to Trump’s crypto ventures, like the TRUMP memecoin and World Liberty Financial (WLFI).
Earlier this month, Warren sent a similar letter to the White House’s Crypto and AI Czar, David Sacks, requesting immediate clarifications on various issues, including the timeline of Sack’s divestment of his digital asset holdings.
According to Sunday’s letter, Atkins should be prepared to answer these questions during the Banking Committee hearing, scheduled for March 27, as the “responses to the questions in this letter and your testimony before the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee will be critical to assessing how you plan to lead the SEC.”
