Radhika Parashar
- Paul Atkins has been spearheading the crypto-focussed reforms at the U.S. SEC
- He plans to create “super apps” that would let trading platforms offer trading, lending, and staking under a single regulatory framework\
- The SEC is now moving to make U.S.’ security laws accommodating of the crypto industry
Paul Atkins, the chairperson of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), discussed plans for crypto in the first OECD Roundtable held in Paris. The discussion, hosted by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) on September 10, was centred around the global financial markets.
Addressing the roundtable, Atkins said that the SEC’s priority is to work security certainty for the crypto industry so that businesses that fled the U.S. in the past could be roped back in.
“For too long, the SEC has weaponized its investigatory, subpoena, and enforcement authorities to subvert the crypto industry,” Atkins said. “It drove jobs, innovation, and capital overseas. American entrepreneurs have been forced to spend fortunes on building a legal defense instead of a business. That chapter belongs to history.”
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The SEC recently launched “Project Crypto” — an initiative to bring internal reforms to accommodate the upcoming crypto industry. The aim is to bring more clarity to the securities law with respect to crypto assets.
Elaborating on the initiative, Atkins told the OECD that over time the SEC would modernize the securities law in such a way that the markets are allowed to move on-chain.
“Most crypto tokens are not securities, and we will draw the lines clearly. We must ensure that entrepreneurs can raise capital on-chain without endless legal uncertainty,” he noted.
Moving further, the SEC plans to support the concept of “super apps” that would let trading platforms to offer trading, lending, and staking under a single regulatory framework.
Mathias Cormann, the secretary-general of the OECD presided the roundtable where Atkins delivered the keynote address. Officials from BlackRock and Japan’s pension investment fund were among the high-profile attendees of this discussion.
