SEC Nominee Paul Atkins Receives Endorsement from Senate Banking Committee
The commission has approved the nominations of Paul Atkins to head the SEC and Jonathan Gould to head the OCC, both of whom will have a significant impact on the cryptocurrency space.
Jesse Hamilton | Edited by Nikhilesh De Updated April 3, 2025, 3:28 PM Published April 3, 2025, 3:11 PM
Key points:
- The Senate Banking Committee has nominated two key candidates for President Donald Trump's cryptocurrency team: Paul Atkins to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission and Jonathan Gould to head the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.
- Each nominee advanced to the next stage—consideration by the full Senate—via party-line votes in committee.
The U.S. Senate Banking Committee has voted to fast-track President Donald Trump's nominees for top positions at the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, both of which are key to the future regulation of the cryptocurrency sector in the U.S.
Former Chairman Gary Gensler's nominations of Paul Atkins to head the SEC and Jonathan Gould to head the OCC banking regulator now move to the full Senate. Their approval would allow Atkins and Gould to begin serving at the regulatory agencies.
Atkins and Gould both advanced on committee votes Thursday, each winning 13-11.
Committee Chairman Tim Scott, a South Carolina Republican, praised the candidates before the vote.
“Paul Atkins, a former SEC commissioner, will help build capital and provide needed clarity for digital assets,” Scott said. Of Gould, he added that the nominee, a former OCC general counsel, “will put an end to politically motivated debanking,” a major issue for the crypto industry.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, the committee's top Democrat, offered last-minute criticism of the nominees before they were rejected.
“Mr. Atkins was dead wrong in the run-up to the worst financial crisis in a generation,” she said of Atkins' previous role at the SEC before the 2008 global financial crisis, adding that Gould's work at the OCC “weakened rules and helped undermine” the safety and soundness of the banking system.
Issues related to cryptocurrency were not sufficiently addressed at recent confirmation hearings, despite strong interest from both sides in the future regulation of the sector.
Read more: Trump's SEC pick Paul Atkins promises new stance on cryptocurrencies, but gets few questions
