SEC Chairman Nominee Paul Atkins to Meet with Senate Panel Next Week
Two key financial regulators in the cryptocurrency space will meet with the Senate: hearings on the nominations of Paul Atkins to the SEC and Jonathan Gould to the OCC will take place on March 27.
Jesse Hamilton | Edited by Nikhilesh De on Mar 20, 2025, 9:41 PM UTC
What you need to know:
- Securities and Exchange Commission chairman nominee Paul Atkins will testify before the Senate Banking Committee next week, along with comptroller nominee Jonathan Gould. Assistant Treasury Secretary nominee Luke Pettit will also testify.
- If the committee approves the nominees, the full Senate will vote to confirm them before they take office.
Paul Atkins, President Donald Trump's nominee to become SEC chairman, will appear in the U.S. Senate next week, allowing him to begin his job as early as next month.
At the same March 27 hearing, the Senate panel will also consider Jonathan Gould's nomination to be the next comptroller of the currency, which is responsible for overseeing U.S. national banks — an important area of interest for cryptocurrency companies seeking access to banking services, according to an email from the Senate Banking Committee on Thursday.
Atkins is a former SEC commissioner and digital asset advocate who ran your firm in Washington, advising clients on financial compliance. He is expected to continue the SEC’s crypto initiative, which began after Trump returned to the White House and appointed acting Chairman Mark Uyeda.
Under current legislative initiatives, the OCC will not only become the key body in opening up the digital asset sector to the US banking system, but could also become the regulator for future stablecoin issuers.
At Thursday's meeting, the committee will also discuss Luke Pettit's nomination for assistant secretary of the Treasury.
Trump nominated Atkins to succeed former SEC Chairman Gary Gensler, whose performance as the securities regulator was criticized for “regulating by force” by the crypto industry. Ueda has reversed his predecessor’s course since taking over the agency on an interim basis, dropping several lawsuits the SEC had filed against crypto firms in previous years and suspending others. The SEC has also told a number of crypto firms that it is closing its investigations into those companies.
