What to expect at Paul Atkins’ SEC confirmation hearing

Former US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) member Paul Atkins is scheduled to appear before lawmakers in the Senate Banking Committee on March 27 as part of the Trump administration’s efforts to get the president’s picks into high-level government positions.

Since US President Donald Trump took office on Jan. 20, the SEC, under the leadership of acting chair Mark Uyeda, has dropped several investigations and enforcement actions against major crypto firms, many of which had been in court for months or years. Many analysts see the SEC’s recent actions as the administration acting on its campaign promises to the crypto industry, of which some figures donated directly to the then-presidential candidate or his inauguration fund after the Nov. 5 election.

The commission’s actions — which include declaring that memecoins aren’t securities —  also stand in stark contrast to its position under former chair Gary Gensler, leading many to speculate that the SEC under Trump will lead to a booming US crypto industry essentially free of regulatory scrutiny.

Atkins, whom Trump picked in December 2024 and officially nominated after taking office, received support from industry players at Coinbase and Ripple, both of which had ongoing enforcement actions brought by the SEC. The cases have since been dropped.

Given the SEC’s seeming about-face on crypto enforcement and Trump’s potential conflicts of interest with the industry — with ties to the crypto firm World Liberty Financial and the launch of his own memecoin — some lawmakers are likely to question Atkins’ views on digital assets at the confirmation hearing.

If confirmed by the Senate, Atkins could return to a soon-to-be entirely Republican-controlled SEC, with Democratic Commissioner Caroline Crenshaw expected to leave by 2026.

It’s unclear if Atkins will have the votes to pass a confirmation hearing in the banking committee or a full floor vote in the Senate. Republicans hold a 53-seat majority in the chamber with only 51 votes required to confirm a nominee, and — with the exception of former Representative Matt Gaetz for US Attorney General — have not suggested that they intend to oppose any of Trump’s picks for crucial government positions.

Democratic opposition to Atkins’ nomination

Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, the top Democrat on the banking committee who has often equated crypto with drug trafficking and other illicit actions, said in a March 23 letter to Atkins that she had concerns about his potential role at the SEC after his consulting firm, Patomak Global Partners, was an adviser to defunct crypto exchange FTX. He was also an adviser to the advocacy group Chamber of Digital Commerce. 

“Your deep involvement with FTX and other high-paying crypto clients raises questions about your approach to crypto regulation — and concerns about the extent of your knowledge of FTX’s illegal activities,” said Warren, adding:

“Your financial ties to the industries you will soon regulate raise serious concerns about your ability to avoid conflicts of interest as a regulator.”

Warren suggested that some members of the Senate would likely question Trump’s pick about the SEC recently dropping enforcement cases against crypto firms, reports that Trump’s family had held talks with Binance about acquiring a stake in the company as well as a possible pardon for former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, how Atkins intends to apply securities laws to digital assets if confirmed, and the commission’s recent opinion that memecoins were not securities.

She hinted that Atkins may have also communicated with Republican SEC commissioners Uyeda and Hester Peirce after being nominated.