Crypto Promoter Paul Atkins Named to Chair SEC
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, President-elect Donald J. Trump announced he would name Paul Atkins to serve as chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Atkins previously served as a staffer and commissioner at the Securities and Exchange Commission; and a member of the Congressional Oversight Panel investigating the response to the 2008 financial crash. He is a founder of a financial industry consultancy that promotes cryptocurrency.
Bartlett Naylor, financial policy advocate for Public Citizen, issued the following statement in response:
“Crypto companies’ unprecedented political spending apparently just bought them control of the nation’s investor protection police.
“Any sentient being — let alone a securities markets expert — should understand that bitcoin is ‘thin air,’ as Trump himself once put it. That Paul Atkins has made a living promoting such a scam doesn’t bode well for his reflexes as a shepherd for investor protection.
“As an SEC veteran, industry consultant and lobbyist, Atkins will be keenly able to reshape the SEC, either to vandalize or improve investor protections. We obviously hope he understands that, if confirmed, he will be expected to work on behalf of average Americans, not his consulting clients, crypto or otherwise.”