Atkins pledges further crypto rule changes to keep markets onshore

Key points

• Atkins said on 2 October that the SEC will modernise custody rules dating from 1940 that only covered traditional assets.
• The SEC has already proposed Regulation Crypto Assets and a five-year Innovation Exemption sandbox for national stocks on decentralised exchanges.
• Former SEC internet enforcement chief John Reed Stark argues the push exceeds the agency's authority and usurps Congress.

SEC Chair Paul Atkins has promised further crypto rule changes to keep digital asset markets onshore, Bitcoin.com News reports. In a statement on social media on 2 October, he pointed to a proposal to modernise regulation of crypto asset custody and stressed the industry's importance to the United States as a leader in financial markets.

Atkins said the custody rules now in place date from 1940 and were written only for traditional assets, so they do not suit today's digital landscape. He described the custody proposal as part of a wider crypto asset regulatory approach the commission has followed since 2025, when it ended what he called regulation by enforcement as former Chair Gary Gensler left the agency.

Custody rules modernised

Atkins said blockchain could modernise the financial system and that onchain markets should not be pushed offshore or into ill-fitting models.

The approach has critics. John Reed Stark, a former chief of the SEC's Office of Internet Enforcement, has argued the push goes beyond the agency's authority, conflicts with more than a decade of crypto enforcement and takes over Congress's role. Atkins said more proposals are coming and that he wants to help President Trump make the United States the crypto capital of the world.

What to watch: The article says the SEC has proposed the custody framework and that Atkins expects more regulatory proposals, but names no date or vote.

Read the full story on Bitcoin.com News →