US SEC Chairman: Will draft rule proposals related to Crypto Assets, no longer fear innovation in the Crypto Assets space.

On May 19, SEC Chairman Paul Atkins said in an SEC speech that “the crypto market has been in the SEC’s ambiguous regulatory zone for many years. Initially, the SEC adopted what I call an “ostrich policy” – perhaps in the hope that the crypto industry would disappear on its own. Later, the policy shifted to “shoot first, then ask questions” enforcement-style supervision. The slogan “Welcome to Talk” often actually means “Welcome to receive a subpoena”. This is a dilemma for market participants. This environment does not build trust. The essence of the message is, “Guess for yourself.” I have recently instructed the Division of Corporation Finance to maintain transparent communication with the public. When regulators are able to open up dialogue with industry, market participants are able to act more flexibly and allocate capital more efficiently to productive uses. Today is a new beginning for the SEC. I have instructed the staff of the policy department to begin drafting proposals for rules related to cryptocurrencies. At the same time, staff are still “clearing the way” through department-level declarations. I would like the Commission to allow SEC registrants to custody and trade both securities and non-securities assets under one platform. This will help reduce investor costs and enable non-securities trading to quickly enter the regulatory environment at the federal level. In response to innovation trends and the progress of the Crypto Working Group, we have requested a rebudgeting with Congress to integrate the SEC’s Innovation and FinTech Strategy Center (FinHub) function into the rest of the organization.”