One of the leading investment theories that arose from the nomination of Paul Atkins, a longtime securities attorney, former SEC commissioner, and cryptocurrency believer, as chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission is that he plans to invest $3.5 trillion. He is said to be a great person for the digital coin business.
President-elect Trump said as much Wednesday afternoon when he announced that he was appointing Atkins to be Wall Street's top cop (of course, after reporting in the Post two weeks ago that he was the front-runner). Ta).
“We recognize that digital assets and other innovations are essential to making America greater than ever,” Atkins wrote in a post on Truth Social.
Following this announcement, Bitcoin rose above $100,000. That's a nearly 130% increase in just the past year, with much of the jump due to President Trump's election to loosen regulations on cryptocurrencies from the crackdown introduced under the Joe Biden administration. This happened during the period and during the post-election campaign promises.
The frenzy surrounding the SEC, led by Atkins, who sits on the board of the Digital Chamber of Commerce, a cryptocurrency advocacy group, is a major reason for the recent skyrocketing prices of even niche cryptocurrencies.
One such token is XRP, the native payments coin by Ripple. Ripple uses blockchain technology to offer cross-border payments and touts it as cheaper than traditional banking systems. This is probably the best-performing asset trade in the cryptocurrency market in recent weeks, and perhaps in any market over that period.
yes. I know Bitcoin is up a lot, but XRP has soared nearly 400 percent in the past year. Most of this is due to the impact of President Trump's victory on November 5th.
Recall: President Trump vowed to fire SEC Chairman and Crypto Enforcement Officer Gary Gensler on “day one” of lobbying for crypto voting.
Chris Gianacarlo, one of President Trump's top crypto advisors, said Gensler's stronghold over the industry is among the changes he believes the SEC will reverse.
This could include dropping the regulator's lawsuit against Ripple, ironically the first filed by SEC Chairman Jay Clayton during President Trump's first term.
The SEC accused Ripple of refusing to come to the agency and disclose financial information when Ripple was selling XRP to build the platform. Mr. Gensler continued to litigate. Later, a federal court issued a bizarre ruling, ruling that XRP purchased by small investors on the secondary market was not required to be disclosed, but large investors who purchased directly from Ripple were. did.
Mr. Gensler's SEC wanted to flip the script for obvious reasons. Disclosure rules are designed to protect small investors, giving them more, not less.
So what would Atkins do? Some in the securities bar ecosystem who know Atkins believe the virtual Some say currency businesses will never get a complete regulatory free pass. Delegation.
He may not drop the Ripple lawsuit, they say.
“I don't think Mr. Atkins will let that precedent stand,” said a securities lawyer who knows Mr. Atkins well.
If that is the case, and Atkins continues with the Ripple lawsuit, XRP's excitement will quickly disappear, and likely Bitcoin's as well.
