U.S. SEC Chair Paul Atkins mentioned crypto’s time has come, pledging to modernize the U.S. securities rulebook and develop “Project Crypto” to deliver markets on-chain.
Talking in Paris on Sept. 10 on the OECD’s inaugural Roundtable on World Monetary Markets, Atkins mentioned the SEC is shifting away from enforcement-driven policymaking and can present clear guidelines for tokens, custody, and buying and selling platforms. “Policy will no longer be set by ad hoc enforcement actions,” he mentioned, calling the brand new method “a golden age of financial innovation on U.S. soil.”
Atkins mentioned most tokens will not be securities and promised bright-line guidelines for figuring out when crypto belongings fall underneath SEC oversight. He mentioned entrepreneurs should be capable of increase capital on-chain with out “endless legal uncertainty” and pledged a framework for platforms that combine buying and selling, lending, and staking underneath one license. Custody guidelines can even be up to date to permit traders and intermediaries a number of choices.
The SEC chair mentioned Undertaking Crypto would clear the way in which for tokenized securities, new on-chain asset lessons, and decentralized finance software program, whereas guaranteeing investor protections. He additionally highlighted the potential for “super-app” buying and selling platforms and careworn the significance of conserving innovation in the US.
Atkins first unveiled Undertaking Crypto on July 31, 2025, in Washington, framing it because the SEC’s “north star” in supporting President Trump’s purpose of creating the U.S. the world’s crypto hub. His Paris remarks expanded on that agenda, outlining extra particulars on custody, capital formation, and platform guidelines.
Atkins’ remarks got here two days after Nasdaq President Tal Cohen posted on LinkedIn that tokenization is an “extraordinary opportunity” for world markets. Cohen mentioned Nasdaq had filed with the SEC to allow buying and selling of tokenized securities, underscoring how main establishments are transferring towards blockchain adoption.
Past crypto, Atkins addressed overseas firm listings, accounting requirements, and European regulation. He raised considerations over “double materiality” in EU reporting legal guidelines, urged steady funding for the IASB, and mentioned the SEC could revisit its 2007 resolution to permit IFRS with out reconciliation to U.S. GAAP if funding points persist.
The SEC chair additionally highlighted synthetic intelligence as a drive that would essentially reshape monetary markets. He described a shift towards “agentic finance,” the place autonomous AI techniques might execute trades, allocate capital, and handle threat at speeds no human can match, with compliance embedded straight into their code.
Such techniques, he mentioned, might ship quicker and cheaper markets whereas opening superior methods to a broader set of traders. Coupled with blockchain infrastructure, these instruments might empower people, enhance competitors, and unlock new development.
Atkins cautioned, nevertheless, that regulators should present “commonsense guardrails” with out overreacting out of concern. He argued that on-chain capital markets and AI-driven finance are on the horizon, and that America should select management to make sure the following era of monetary innovation takes root at dwelling.
Atkins concluded by saying regulators should strike a steadiness between innovation and investor safety. “Crypto’s time has come,” he mentioned, including that U.S. markets ought to lead the following wave of monetary innovation somewhat than watching it unfold abroad.
