Gensler Out, Atkins In as SEC Chair – What’s Next for Crypto?

The SEC's Crypto Wars 

Gary Gensler’s reputation seems to have been under attack for a while now, and with Trump re-elected, he’s set to be replaced by Paul Atkins. The notorious SEC Chair will step down at the end of Biden’s term, effective January 20, 2025, by his own choice. But was he really the bad guy he’s made out to be? What were his goals? And what’s next for the crypto industry? Here’s Gary Gensler crypto stance analysis and more.

In general, the US crypto regulatory issues predate Gensler’s tenure, with one of the SEC’s first high-profile cases being against Block.one, the company behind the EOS blockchain. In 2019, the SEC charged Block.one with unregistered security offerings related to its EOS tokens. The company had raised over $4 billion through its ICO (Initial Coin Offering), the largest ICO in crypto history at the time.

The SEC accused Block.one of violating securities laws by not registering the offering. Block.one settled with the SEC, paying a $24 million fine.

In 2020, the agency filed another big lawsuit, this time against social media and IM service Telegram, accusing the company of unregistered securities offering related to its Gram token. Telegram had raised around $1.7 billion but due to the lawsuit, was forced to abandon the Gram token launch. The company settled with the SEC, returning $1.2 billion to investors and paying an $18.5 million penalty. But the company never launched the Gram token, the SEC’s lawsuit killed the project.In the same year, Ripple Labs was accused of using the XRP token as an unregistered security to raise funds. In August 2024, a judge found Ripple liable for $125 million. It’s unclear how the long running lawsuit will play out under the new SEC chair, Paul Atkins. Ripple Labs CEO Brad Garlinghouse commented in a December 4th X post, “Paul Atkins at the helm of the SEC will bring common sense back to the agency.”

Gary Gensler cryptocurrency policies at the SEC

2021 was a new era as Gensler took over the agency. But one of the agency’s biggest moves came a few years into his tenure when the SEC went after Kraken in 2023. The SEC accused Kraken of operating an unregistered securities exchange by allowing trading of digital assets that were classified as securities.

Kraken settled with the SEC for $30 million, agreeing to cease its crypto staking services for U.S. customers and paying a fine.

Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, was next in the SEC’s crosshairs. In 2023, the agency sued the platform for operating an unregistered exchange and for allegedly offering unregistered securities to U.S. investors. This was a turning point for Gensler’s push to bring more oversight to the crypto space, with the SEC going after Binance’s operations not just in the U.S. but globally. The platform, facing mounting legal challenges, denied the charges vigorously, this could be one of the biggest lawsuits the SEC has ever brought.

In 2024, the SEC also filed charges against Coinbase, the largest publicly traded crypto exchange in the U.S. Coinbase was accused of operating as an unregistered securities exchange by allowing the trading of various tokens. But the company has publicly resisted the SEC’s claims, saying the agency’s stance could stifle innovation in the U.S. market.

In October 2024, Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase, published a collection of conflicting statements made by the SEC over the years. The issues included whether digital assets like Bitcoin are considered securities, whether the SEC has authority over crypto exchanges, and whether existing laws provide clarity

In general, over the past few years the SEC has taken enforcement actions against some of the biggest names in the crypto industry, including North America’s largest exchange, Coinbase, decentralized exchange Uniswap, blockchain-based video streaming platform Lbry, Web3 game developer Immutable, MetaMask wallet creator Consensys, and many others. In each case the SEC argued that many cryptocurrencies are securities and that their developers must register the tokens with the agency.

The SEC’s impact on blockchain innovation has driven many crypto firms abroad over the past few years.

Will things change once Paul Atkins, nominated by Trump, becomes Chair?

Trump, Paul Atkins, and the Future of Crypto: What’s Next?

On July 27, Trump promised to fire Gensler on day one if he’s reelected. He also pledged to appoint a chair who believed America should “build the future, not block the future.” By early December 2024, as of this writing, it was confirmed that the president-elect had nominated former SEC commissioner Paul Atkins to head the agency.

Atkins’ nomination comes as speculation grows that Trump’s administration could shift cryptocurrency regulatory oversight from the SEC to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Such a move would be a big policy shift with huge implications for the crypto industry.

If Atkins takes over as SEC chair after Gensler’s resignation in January 2025 it could mean a shift in U.S. crypto regulations—one that encourages innovation not hindering it.

“We have the first Bitcoin president going to the White House which is why we saw a new all time high last night,” Bitcoin influencer Anthony Pompliano said in a November 6th X post.

Trump’s win could be a positive for the U.S. cryptocurrency industry as he has been a long time crypto supporter, positioning himself as a pro-crypto candidate. Throughout his campaign the president-elect has said he will end the “war on crypto” and make the U.S. the “crypto capital of the world” if elected.

Teen Bitcoin millionaire Erik Finman was very optimistic about this win, talking to Cointelegraph and said it will turn the U.S. into a pro-crypto environment and will bring a massive influx of investment into the crypto markets. Finman said, “His policies will ignite the crypto market, fueling massive growth across the board.”“If Trump wins I think Bitcoin could hit $100,000 during his second term.” As it turns out Finman was right.

Donald Trump wasn’t always a crypto advocate but the crypto community rallied around him as a pro-crypto candidate during the 2024 election.

Trump’s campaign was supported by prominent figures in the crypto space including Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson, BitGo CEO Mike Belshe, Tron founder Justin Sun and Bitcoin Foundation founder Charlie Shrem. The founders of major U.S. crypto exchanges, Gemini and Kraken, also publicly endorsed Trump and contributed millions to back him as the “only pro-crypto candidate.”

In line with his stance on Bitcoin, Trump made several commitments to U.S. crypto miners saying he supports the industry and wants to make the U.S. the leader in Bitcoin mining.

“His win could be good for the U.S. cryptocurrency industry given his long time support for crypto and his positioning as a pro-crypto candidate.

“I think this is very bullish for digital assets,” said Michael Saylor, CEO of MicroStrategy.