SEC Chair Paul Atkins says the right to self-custody is a ‘foundational American value’

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman, Paul Atkins, has vowed to do things differently during his tenure and is already hard at work. 

Under his leadership, the SEC is now considering changing how it views self-custody, describing it as a “foundational American value.”

Atkins at the SEC’s final Crypto Task Force Roundtable

According to remarks delivered Monday at the SEC’s final Crypto Task Force Roundtable, which was titled “DeFi and the American Spirit,” Atkins hinted at a progressive openness toward self-custody, marking a departure from the previous administration’s ethos.

According to Atkins, “the right to have self-custody of one’s private property is a foundational American value” and logging on to the internet should not compromise that.

“I am in favor of affording greater flexibility to market participants to self-custody crypto assets,” he said. “Especially where intermediation imposes unnecessary transaction costs or restricts the ability to engage in staking and other on-chain activities.”

The SEC has turned a new leaf since President Donald Trump took office and former SEC Chair Gary Gensler’s departure . The new regime has taken a warmer approach to the previously embattled crypto industry, partially through throwing out enforcement actions against major crypto industry players and putting together the crypto task force.

So far, the task force has hosted five roundtable discussions over the past few months with a focus on tokenization, custody, trading, and defining securities.

Atkins has positioned himself as a critic of the agency’s previous approach, and on Monday, he accused the agency of undermining innovation in self-custody by asserting that developers could be brokers, and therefore, need to follow the SEC’s rules.

Atkins thinks these “century-old regulatory frameworks” should not be allowed to stifle innovation with technologies that he said could “upend and most importantly improve and advance our current, traditional intermediated model.”

“We should not automatically fear the future,” Atkins said. “I have asked the Commission staff to explore whether further guidance or rulemaking may be helpful for enabling registrants to transact with these software systems in compliance with applicable law.”

Atkins is excited to use on-chain software systems to eliminate economic frictions

Atkins also expressed excitement about the progressive use of on-chain software systems by issuers and intermediaries to “eliminate economic frictions, increase capital efficiency, enable new types of financial products, and enhance liquidity.”

He revealed that he has asked the staff to consider whether amendments to the Commission’s rules and regulations would be better suited to provide needed accommodation for issuers and intermediaries who seek to administer on-chain financial systems.

Atkins has also directed the staff to consider a conditional exemptive relief framework or “innovation exemption” that would expeditiously allow registrants and non-registrants to bring on-chain products and services to market.

He believes that an innovation exemption could potentially fulfill President Trump’s vision to make America the “crypto capital of the planet” as it could encourage developers, entrepreneurs, and other firms willing to comply with certain conditions to innovate with on-chain technologies in the United States.

Cryptopolitan Academy: Want to grow your money in 2025? Learn how to do it with DeFi in our upcoming webclass. Save Your Spot