Paul Atkins, nominated for the position of Chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), disclosed before Thursday’s Senate hearing that he holds stakes in three crypto companies but does not directly hold cryptocurrencies.
Atkins and his wife have a net worth of at least $327 million, according to Bloomberg. His ethical filings reveal that Atkins serves on the board of Securitize, where he holds $500,000 worth of call options. He also has between $250,000 and $500,000 in Anchorage Digital and up to $1 million in Off the Chain Capital.
Atkins was nominated by former President Donald Trump for the SEC chairmanship after Gary Gensler’s departure from the position in January. Interim Chair Mark Uyeda has been managing the SEC since. Atkins had previously served as an SEC commissioner under President George W. Bush from 2002 to 2008 and later founded Patomak Global Partners, a consulting firm that worked with crypto exchanges and DeFi platforms. In 2020, he joined the advisory board of the Digital Chamber of Commerce but stepped down after Trump’s nomination.
Senator Elizabeth Warren, ahead of Atkins’ nomination, sent a 34-page letter raising concerns over his connections to the crypto exchange FTX and potential conflicts of interest regarding Trump’s meme coins.
