SEC Chair Atkins says onchain capital raising should come 'without endless legal uncertainty'

In a keynote speech to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, new U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Paul Atkins reaffirmed that "most crypto tokens are not securities" as the agency continues to draft guidelines to benefit the industry.

Most notably, Atkins said entrepreneurs and investors should be able to raise capital onchain "without endless legal uncertainty" and pave the way for "super-app" trading platforms that increase "choice for market participants."

"As we call on our partners to foster investor confidence and dynamic markets in their jurisdictions, these same priorities compel us, in the United States, to unleash the potential of digital assets in ours," Atkins said.

In a plan Atkins calls "Project Crypto," part of President Donald Trump’s efforts to turn America into the “crypto capital of the world,” the SEC is working to "modernize the securities rules and regulations to enable our markets to move on-chain."

This includes providing clearer guidelines regarding the "security status of crypto assets" as well as opening the door for trading platforms to offer trading, lending, and staking services "under a single regulatory umbrella," Atkins said. 

The move comes amid a sea change in the regulatory approach towards crypto in the U.S. during Trump's second term. This summer, lawmakers were able to pass the first substantial piece of crypto legislation — regarding stablecoins — and have since made progress on a market structure bill, called Clarity, that, in part, would determine whether the SEC or Commodity Futures Trading Commission is responsible for market oversight.

Atkins noted that the previous administration, under former President Biden, led an ineffectual campaign against crypto that kept the industry from developing.

"For too long, the SEC has weaponized its investigatory, subpoena, and enforcement authorities to subvert the crypto industry," Atkins said. "That approach was not only ineffective, but injurious; it drove jobs, innovation, and capital overseas. American entrepreneurs bore the brunt — and have been forced to spend fortunes on building a legal defense instead of a business. That chapter belongs to history."

"I believe regulators should provide the minimum effective dose of regulation needed to protect investors, and no more,” he added, praising the work the Crypto Working Group, led by SEC Commissioner Hester Pierce, is doing to clarify rules for crypto actors, including in the tokenization and staking fields.

"Our goal is simple: to spark a golden age of financial innovation on U.S. soil," Atkins said. "Whether through tokenized stock ledgers or entirely new asset classes, we want breakthroughs to be made in America’s markets, under American oversight, for the benefit of American investors."

The SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading recently announced a roundtable set for Sept. 29, where they will discuss bringing "innovative products," such as perpetual contracts and decentralized finance, back to America.