SEC Moves Away From Crypto “Regulation Through Enforcement”, Atkins Says

Highlights:

• SEC says it is ending regulation by enforcement and adopting a clearer ACT strategy.
• Paul Atkins says clearer crypto rules could help firms return and build in America.
• SEC also wants stronger public markets while keeping investor protection and enforcement in focus.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is changing its approach to crypto and financial markets, SEC Chair Paul Atkins said. In a Monday interview on CNBC, he stated the agency is moving away from “regulation by enforcement.” Instead, it will follow a new plan called the ACT strategy, which stands for Advance, Clarify, and Transform.

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Paul Atkins became SEC chairman on April 21 last year and has now spent about one year in the role. He said that when he took over the agency, he had promised a new direction for the SEC. He added that the agency has since moved away from regulation through enforcement and a lack of transparency, especially on crypto, which he described as a top priority.

Now, he said, the agency is trying to give the market a clearer framework. As part of that effort, the SEC is working with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to more clearly distinguish between tokenized securities and digital assets treated as commodities. For crypto firms, that could bring a real change after years of lawsuits and regulatory uncertainty in the U.S.

🚨SEC: “WE’VE MADE HUGE PROGRESS” ON CRYPTO POLICY

SEC Chair Paul Atkins says the agency has pivoted away from regulation by enforcement and is delivering on its promise of a “new day at the SEC” for crypto oversight. pic.twitter.com/CQZ9yqEGEt

— Coin Bureau (@coinbureau) April 20, 2026

What the ACT Strategy Means for Crypto

Atkins said the first part of his ACT plan, called “Advance,” focuses on updating how the SEC views new technology. He said the agency should not try to block innovation or push it out of the country. Instead, the SEC wants to support new ideas and help the U.S. become a place where companies build and launch products.

He stated:

“So rather than fending off new, innovative types of technologies, we’re embracing them. So to make them so that will bring them from offshore, where people fled, to come back to the United States to really work on their products.”

The second part, “Clarify,” focuses on making the SEC’s position easier to understand. Atkins said the agency had been opaque in the past and that it is now trying to provide more direct guidance. For crypto, that means drawing clearer lines around which digital assets may be treated as securities and which may fall outside the SEC’s main jurisdiction.

The last part of Atkins’ plan, called “Transform,” focuses on updating the SEC’s rules to better match today’s market. He linked that goal to public markets and said he wants to make initial public offerings more appealing again.

He said the number of public companies in the U.S. has fallen sharply over the past 30 years. At the same time, many firms now wait until much later funding rounds before going public. As a result, many of today’s biggest initial public offering candidates are already very large by the time they enter public markets.

Atkins said several factors are holding companies back from listing earlier. These include costly and complex disclosure rules, legal risks, and uncertainty over what the SEC may allow. He also criticized what he called the use of corporate governance by politically driven shareholder activists.

He said public markets still matter because they provide liquidity and clear price discovery. However, many companies now see the path to going public as too hard and too expensive.

SEC Says Investor Protection Still Comes First

Even as he criticized the SEC’s old approach, Atkins made clear that enforcement still remains a key part of the agency’s work. He said the SEC will continue to focus on investor protection, fair markets, and efforts to stop insider trading and market manipulation.

When asked about suspicious trading tied to market-moving remarks, Atkins did not comment on any specific case. However, he said the SEC is still watching that area and stays in contact with other agencies, including the Department of Justice and the CFTC. His comments suggest the SEC wants a more balanced approach. 

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