Former commissioner Paul Atkins is top candidate for SEC chair

Paul Atkins, a former U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Commissioner, is the favorite to become the next chair of the regulatory agency.

Atkins is still the leading candidate for the role that Gary Gensler will vacate in January 2025, Fox Business Eleanor Terrett said via X. The former SEC commissioner is highly appreciated as a potential top pick for President-elect Donald Trump, who announced during his campaign that he would fire Gensler on the first day of his presidency.

The outgoing SEC chair chose to step down and will exit on January 20.

Gensler’s replacement could be the pro-innovation Atkins, who was a commissioner at the securities watchdog between July 9, 2002 and August 2008. Atkins was commissioner and staffer at the agency under two SEC chairs – Richard C. Breeden and Arthur Levitt.

According to Terrett, sources at Mar-a-Lago say Trump’s transition team has the crypto-savvy ex-SEC commissioner in the lead.

The thinking is that Atkins will push the pro-innovation agenda Trump’s administration and the Republican Party are eyeing. For many, this is the next step after the largely negative four years under Gensler. The SEC chair and the commission pursued a widely criticised regulation-by-enforcement approach.

Gensler’s leadership also failed to provide any meaningful guidance for the industry. However, it charged multiple crypto companies – and suffered several legal blows in U.S. courts.

Cryptocurrencies rose sharply after Trump’s win. Bitcoin (BTC) surged to near $100k while several altcoins, including XRP, continued higher as the outgoing SEC chair announced his resignation.

Also buoying markets have been reports that the Trump administration is looking to hire the first crypto czar in the U.S.