This Is SEC Chair Gary Gensler's Strong Candidate, One Of Them Is Paul Atkins!

JAKARTA The President-elect of the United States, Donald Trump, will soon announce the replacement of the new Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). According to a FOX Business report, the decision can be announced in the near future, even as soon as possible tomorrow.

Paul Atkins is touted as the most powerful candidate for Gary Gensler's position. Data from market prediction platform Kalshi shows Atkins has a 70% chance of occupying the post of Chairman of the US SEC, ahead of Brian Brooks, former US Treasury Administration, who only has 20% chance.

Paul Atkins is known as a supporter of innovation in the digital financial sector. He has repeatedly criticized the "regulatory through law enforcement" approach echoed by Gary Gensler, the current SEC Chair. According to Atkins, the policy actually raises ambiguities and regulations that are not clear to the crypto industry.

Atkins juga mendorong pembentukan aturan yang lebih jelas dan ramah inovasi. Jika terpilih, ia diprediksi akan mengusung model pendekatan baru yang lebih friendly bagi pelaku industri teknologi finansial, sekaligus memberikan ruang bagi pengembangan sektor tersebut.

Apart from Atkins and Brooks, a number of other names under consideration are current SEC Commissioner Mark Uyeda; Robinhood's Chief Justice, Dan Gallagher; as well as former CFTC Chairman Heath Tarbert.

The End Of Gensler Power

Gary Gensler will leave the position of SEC Chair on January 20, 2025. During his tenure since April 2021, Gensler has tightened supervision of the crypto industry through various legal measures that have hampered the development of the crypto industry in the US.

One of the well-known lawsuits is the SEC's legal feud with Ripple which lasted more than 3 years. This is the record for SEC vs Ripple's longest-serving lawsuit ending in Ripple's victory. On the other hand, a number of parties think the SEC is too slow and ineffective in resolving the matter. The SEC under the leadership of Gary Gensler is considered to have failed to provide clear guidelines for the US crypto industry.

Despite being criticized, Gensler managed to bring the SEC to approve Bitcoin and Ethereum-based ETF products. However, his approach was assessed by a number of parties to actually hinder the development of the digital financial industry in the US.