SEC Chairman Paul Atkins says the country needs a proper blueprint for digital assets, not another cycle of enforcement actions and courtroom battles. He shared this message publicly during an interview on Fox Business with Maria Bartiromo.

Atkins argued that the chaos cryptocurrency companies face today isn’t because the technology is uncontrollable — it’s because regulators have relied on laws written for paper share certificates, proxy forms and traditional corporate structures. He noted that the legal foundation for determining whether an asset is a security still comes from a 1946 Supreme Court case, a framework never intended to map onto decentralized networks or tokenized economies.

A Four-Zone System to Classify Crypto Assets

Instead of treating every token as identical, Atkins described a system with four distinct categories based on function: digital commodities, digital collectibles, digital tools and tokenized securities. Under this model, only the fourth category would fall under SEC jurisdiction. He also stressed that the status of a token is not permanent — an asset that begins life as a security because it raises capital could lose that status over time as a network becomes decentralized and usage shifts from investment to utility.

Atkins reiterated that the majority of crypto tokens currently in circulation would not be securities if the proposed classification were adopted. The focus, he said, would shift from “punish first, classify later” to a predictable structure that token developers could understand ahead of time rather than discovering through enforcement.

A Broader Push for Market Transparency

Crypto wasn’t the only topic Atkins addressed. He also pointed to two parallel initiatives: restricting the power of proxy advisory firms in corporate governance and closing loopholes that allow U.S. investment vehicles to funnel capital into China. He framed these issues as part of a wider effort to create a fairer and more transparent financial system rather than isolated policy battles.

Although no timeline was given for formal rule-making, the tone of the interview showed a decisive shift. Instead of treating crypto as a legal problem to react to, the SEC appears prepared to define it proactively. Whether the industry enters a new regulatory era — or returns to ambiguity — will depend on how fast the proposed framework becomes reality.

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Filed under: Bitcoin - @ November 16, 2025 5:02 am