The SEC's sweeping regulatory pivot under Chair Paul Atkins is sending the clearest signal yet that America's top securities regulator has chosen cooperation over confrontation with the crypto industry—but whether words translate into durable policy remains the central question for markets, according to experts.
The first episode, released Thursday, featured Commissioners Mark Uyeda and Hester Peirce and was billed by the agency as a window into its 2026 priorities.
"In the last four years, it was a complete deviation," Uyeda said of the Gensler-era SEC, noting the agency had strayed from its core mandate into areas including DEI oversight, greenhouse gas disclosures, and supply chain management.
"We weren't even in the stadium. We were outside,” he said.
"We need to have financial regulation that is open to innovators because innovation is what makes the financial markets resilient," she said. "If we can encourage people to build here, our investors will benefit. Our markets will benefit."
A new regimeMale Zane, regional manager at crypto exchange CoinEx, said the shift marks a structural change in how the regulator engages with markets.
"Paul Atkins's first speech in his new role signals a shift from a confrontational regulatory model to a systemic and predictable rule architecture," Zane told Decrypt. "In practical terms, this signals a gradual return of institutional capital, the normalization of listings, and the launch of more complex products, from derivatives to new ETFs."
Zane cautioned, however, that the market "remains cautious due to the dependence of further steps on legislative initiatives in the US Congress."
"But if the framework takes two more years, the infrastructure layer gets built in Singapore, UAE, or the EU under MiCA," Kravtsov warned. "The window where the U.S. can attract the foundational layer—not just trading apps but actual payment infrastructure—is probably 12–18 months."
Kravtsov argued that first signs of such a shift would be felt at the infrastructure layer, not in token launches.
Clear rules would enable “payment companies, neobanks, and fintech platforms” to integrate crypto rails without fear of enforcement, compressing timelines from “exploring” to “shipping,” he said.
