WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Paul Atkins said “crypto is Job 1” as his agency hosted a roundtable on Monday’s roundtable focusing on harmony policy work with sister regulator Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
Both agencies play a central role in overseeing the US digital asset market, with the SEC overseeing crypto securities and CFTCs, and overseeing most of digital asset transactions, particularly after it is expected to be given more power by Congress. But both leaders say they want to make the borders between securities and goods seamless, allowing even single companies and apps to pass both without any effort.
“Our two agencies have to work at Rockstep,” Atkins told a crowd of financial compliance lawyers and industry representatives at SEC headquarters in Washington. “The key is to build a framework that allows our institutions to coordinate seamlessly.”
Read more: SEC, CFTC Chief says Crypto Turf Wars when agencies are moving forward to collaborative work
“It’s a new day and the turf war is over,” added Caroline Fam, acting CFTC president.
It was an unusually strong sentiment from these institutions, often at odds with each other, but the CFTC side does not have a permanent leader to ensure that strategic decisions will not be shifted under new management. However, Femme spent some of her time in the microphone, assuring the crowd that her agency was moving at a rapid pace under her leadership.
“The CFTC is alive and we don’t need any more FUD on what’s going on,” she said.
Atkins commented on the leadership of the CFTC under Pham.
On the sidelines at the Round Table event, the SEC chair told reporters, “Clearly, code is the number one priority right now.”
He answered a question from Koindsk, saying President Donald Trump would “slowly and slowly make a gauntlet of sorts” and would like to sign the Market Structure Bill by the end of the year. “We’ll see what happens.”
He said that tokenization of assets will become one of the specific areas of the SEC focus, but he said it might take “a-2 years” to set up a regulatory guardrail around the activity.
“The possibilities are almost limitless,” he said.
Atkins also dismissed speculation about the merger between the SEC and CFTC, calling it “fantasy.”
Monday’s roundtable was the latest SEC event focused on crypto space, representing wider collaboration between agencies. The panel weighted digital assets and blockchain leaders for companies such as Kraken, Crypto.com, Polymarket, Kalshi and Robinhood Markets.
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