President-elect Donald Trump has nominated Paul Atkins to serve as the new chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Atkins has served as SEC chair before. He held the top role at the Wall Street regulator between 2002 and 2008 under former U.S. President George W. Bush.
Atkins has held multiple other roles at the SEC over the years, including in the division of corporate finance.
Trump announced Atkins nomination to lead the SEC on his Truth Social account. Atkins is a veteran of the financial world and known within Republican political circles.
Atkins is currently the chief executive officer (CEO) of privately held management consulting firm Patomak Global Partners.
In addition to being a known quantity on Wall Street, Atkins has a reputation for supporting both deregulation and cryptocurrencies.
He has expressed his support for crypto in the past and has criticized some of the reforms that were instituted after the 2008 financial crisis, saying regulations have been too onerous on U.S. banks.
Bitcoin (BTC) rallied above $100,000 U.S. for the first time on news of Atkins nomination.
Atkins will succeed current SEC chair Gary Gensler, who has announced that he will resign when Trump is inaugurated in January.
Gensler was a polarizing figure on Wall Street and disliked in the crypto community for his efforts to clamp down on digital coins and tokens.
Trump has promised to make America the “crypto capital of the world,” and prices for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have soared since his re-election on Nov. 5 this year.
