U.S. SEC chair: “Under Biden, the U.S. missed a major opportunity…we will regain leadership”

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said it intends to accelerate a shift in its oversight policy for digital assets (cryptocurrencies).

According to Cointelegraph on the 27th (local time), SEC Chair Paul Atkins said at a discussion held at the University of Texas that the previous administration’s approach to crypto “missed a significant opportunity,” adding, “The U.S. failed to appropriately embrace innovation. We are trying to quickly make up for that lost time through a retooling of the regulatory framework.”

He also implicitly criticized the SEC’s past approach under former Chair Gary Gensler, when the agency broadly classified digital assets as securities and continued large-scale enforcement actions on the grounds of registration violations.

Since the launch of the Trump administration, the SEC has taken a more industry-friendly stance. It has established a digital asset task force (TF) and withdrawn some enforcement lawsuits against major companies. It is also pushing “Project Crypto” with the goal of modernizing regulation.

Atkins, in particular, highlighted the potential of distributed ledger technology (DLT). Emphasizing efficiency gains in payment and clearing systems, he cited the recent case in which the SEC allowed WisdomTree to offer 24-hour trading and instant settlement. This marked the first approval in the U.S. for a tokenized money market fund.

He said, “We have already approved a tokenized money market fund, and next we will approve tokenized bank deposits,” adding that “the digital transformation of capital market infrastructure will move into full swing.”