Paul Atkins Hesitates Over Trump’s SEC Offer

Updated Tue, 3 Dec 2024, 3:47 pm | 6 min read

A lot of stars would need to align for Paul Atkins, reportedly president-elect Donald Trump’s top candidate to chair the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, to take the job.

It is an unattractive role for him because of the amount of work needed to turn around the bloated agency he believes was mismanaged by outgoing SEC chair Gary Gensler, a person familiar with Atkins’ thinking said.

Reluctance to clean up Gensler’s “mess” has been shared by former Commodity Futures Trading Commission chair Chris Giancarlo, who has advocated for Atkins to take the SEC job and was once considered a candidate himself.

Atkins, a former SEC commissioner, was spotted at Trump’s Mar-A-Lago resort this week, one industry source said. He was scheduled to interview for the SEC chair role Sunday and Monday, said another person with knowledge of the meetings.

Other Candidates Under Consideration

Crypto attorney Teresa Goody Guillén is also said to be under consideration by the Trump transition team. Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao, Cardano creator Charles Hoskinson, and other crypto executives are privately and publicly supporting her based on her pro-crypto views and experience serving and arguing against the SEC on behalf of blockchain clients.

Guillén has declared on X that she wants to “Make Crypto Great Again” and has been polling the public on the most effective ways the agency could address regulatory challenges.

Last week, crypto executive and former acting Comptroller of the Currency Brian Brooks was believed to be a lead candidate to helm the SEC, gathering strong support from Web3 proponents and at one point leading the odds on prediction market Kalshi. But his lack of securities law experience made him a longshot, sources said.

Circle Chief Legal Officer and Head of Corporate Affairs Heath Tarbert is reportedly being considered. He is a former CFTC chair, assistant Treasury secretary, and associate White House counsel. “We won’t comment on speculation,” said a Circle spokesperson.

Brad Bondi was floated as a possible candidate, and while he has been described as “pro-crypto”, his lack of experience in the field may hinder his chances.

Previous Candidates

Robinhood chief legal officer Dan Gallagher was said to be a top SEC chief candidate before the election, but he has since said he is not interested. “I have made it clear that I do not wish to be considered for this position,” Gallagher told CoinDesk in an emailed statement. “I feel I can make tremendous progress to democratize finance in my current role, and I will remain a vocal and consistent advocate for positive change in our markets.”

SEC Chair Selection Process

The crypto community is keeping a close eye on the SEC chair selection process, which is expected to conclude in the coming days.

Washington experts say the Trump administration will likely roll back the SEC’s oversight of the $3 trillion digital assets market in favor of the CFTC. The latter agency is widely perceived to take a lighter touch because the market it regulates – derivatives – is dominated by sophisticated institutional traders rather than retail investors with less risk tolerance.

The SEC has led a wide-ranging campaign against digital assets companies that was often criticized as unfair. The five-member commission will additionally need to fill a commissioner position following Jamie Lizárraga’s announced departure.

Stebbins and Uyeda

Stebbins personally signed off, approved and encouraged 80 or so SEC crypto-related enforcement actions, including the most controversial of all – the SEC case involving Ripple, wrote Ripple Labs advocate and former SEC attorney John Reed Stark on X. The SEC partially lost that case when a judge ruled that XRP sales by Ripple Labs on public exchanges did not fall under the definition of a security; the agency has said it will appeal that decision.

Big Crypto is extraordinarily powerful and will have a lot of influence in the SEC Chair’s selection and I can’t imagine Big Crypto allowing Bob Stebbins to get the SEC Chair nomination, Stark wrote.

Republican SEC commissioner Uyeda could become acting chair of the SEC after Gary Gensler steps down on inauguration day if the Senate doesn’t confirm his SEC pick by January 20. Commissioner Pierce, another favorite for the role, has privately stated she is not interested in being the chair on an acting or permanent basis, which would improve Uyeda’s chances.

Whether he would stay in the role is less certain. I expect Trump may prefer to bring in someone new of his own, crypto lawyer Jake Chervinsky stated on X.