Paul Atkins, the current SEC chair, ripped into the agency’s treatment of crypto under Gary Gensler on Friday in Washington, D.C., saying innovation in the sector “has been stifled for the last several years.”

Speaking at the SEC’s new Crypto Task Force event, Atkins told the crowd that “the market itself seems to indicate that the current framework badly needs attention,” according to information from the session.

The event, held inside the SEC’s headquarters, came just weeks after the agency dropped its four-year lawsuit against Ripple, a move seen as a symbolic change after years of clashing with the crypto industry.

Crypto leaders, legal professionals, and regulators gathered to dig into the messy state of crypto custody (the business of keeping coins safe) at the half-day roundtable.

Atkins opened the session alongside Caroline Crenshaw, Mark Uyeda, and Hester Peirce, promising a different attitude than the fight-picking tone from those lovely Gary days we used to have.

Atkins tells reporters the SEC needs to rethink crypto rules

During a break, Atkins told reporters he’s ready for a full reassessment of the rules governing crypto.

“We have, I think, a large gambit of ability to operate,” Atkins said. “It’s always good to have Congress’ input, and if there’s a statute to back up what we’re doing, then all the better — but I think we have ample room to maneuver.”

Crypto’s political influence was another theme throughout the event. The industry threw major support behind Donald Trump in his November comeback win after four rocky years under Joe Biden. Trump hasn’t wasted time returning the favor. He signed an executive order to create a strategic Bitcoin reserve and pardoned the three BitMEX founders, plus Ross Ulbricht, who founded Silk Road.

The SEC itself also walked back some of Gary’s work. In January, it canceled Staff Accounting Bulletin 121, which had forced banks to treat crypto holdings as liabilities, blocking a lot of institutional adoption.

Peirce celebrated the death of SAB 121 on X, posting, “Bye, bye SAB 121! It’s not been fun.” And let me tell ya, the audience at the roundtable didn’t seem to miss it either.

Atkins said the agency would still crack down on foreign companies ignoring U.S. laws, saying the SEC wouldn’t hesitate to delist Chinese companies if needed. Of course, this comes amid the somewhat embarrassing public spat between Trump and China’s president Xi Jinping’s people (never Xi himself).

When reporters asked if the president’s blatantly-manipulated crypto activity undercuts the administration’s credibility, Atkins answered, “I have no comment on any of that.”

Crypto custody hurdles dominate SEC industry roundtable

Executives from Anchorage Digital Bank, Fidelity Digital Assets, Kraken, BitGo, Exodus, Fireblocks, and Copper Technologies showed up to spell out just how broken things are.

They said regulatory uncertainty makes it nearly impossible to set up legal and secure custody solutions. Without clear answers, companies are left guessing if they’re compliant or at risk of being sued.

Crypto custody matters because investors want to know if their assets are safe — whether they use private hardware wallets, cold storage, or keep coins with brokers and exchanges in hot wallets. With no clear rules, hacks keep happening, and people keep losing money.

Peirce pointed out at the event, “A regulatory approach should recognize the differences across qualified custodians exist for some crypto assets. But for others, self custody might be the safer option.”

The SEC’s custody rule, first pushed under Gensler, didn’t survive. Crypto companies said it was impossible to follow because it didn’t fit how blockchain actually works. That rule stalled out, and now Friday’s roundtable shows the SEC is hunting for a solution that might actually work.

Still, it won’t be easy. Balancing investor protections with the decentralized, global nature of crypto is a beast. Peirce told the audience, “The Commission must grapple with these issues. If we fail to do so, we prevent regulated entities from serving their customers.”

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