In his first public statement since being sworn in on April 21, new SEC Chairman Paul Atkins delivered remarks on April 25 at the third roundtable of the SEC’s Crypto Task Force.

Chairman Atkins began by thanking Commissioner Peirce for “her principled and tireless advocacy for common-sense crypto policy within the United States.” Referring to her by her nickname “CryptoMom,” Atkins lauded Commissioner Peirce as “the right person to lead the effort to come up with a rational regulatory framework for crypto asset markets.”

Chairman Atkins continued:

This is important work as entrepreneurs across the United States are harnessing blockchain technology to modernize aspects of our financial system. I expect huge benefits from this market innovation for efficiency, cost reduction, transparency, and risk mitigation. Market participants engaging with this technology deserve clear regulatory rules of the road. Innovation has been stifled for the last several years due to market and regulatory uncertainty that unfortunately the SEC has fostered.

We expect that reconsideration of the SEC’s approach to the regulation of digital assets will continue to be a high priority for Chairman Atkins.