US Second Chair Paul Atkins said the Crypto era has come and promised to modernize the rules book for US securities and expand the “project crypto” and bring the market to chain.
Speaking in Paris at the OECD’s first roundtable on global financial markets on September 10, Atkins said the SEC is moving away from executive-led policymaking and will provide clear rules for tokens, custody and trading platforms. “Policy will no longer be set by ad-hoc enforcement measures,” he said, calling the new approach “the golden age of financial innovation for the US soil.”
Atkins said most tokens are not securities and they have committed bright lines rules to determine when crypto assets fall under SEC surveillance. He said entrepreneurs must be able to raise capital on-chains without “endless legal uncertainty,” and pledged a framework for a platform that integrates trading, lending and staking under one license. Management rules will also be updated to allow managers and intermediaries to allow multiple options.
The SEC Chairman said Project Crypto will clear its tokenized securities, new on-chain asset classes and decentralized finance software methods while ensuring investors’ protection. He also highlighted the potential of a “super app” trading platform, and the importance of maintaining innovation in the US.
Atkins first announced the project Crypto in Washington on July 31, 2025, framing it as the SEC “North Star” to support President Trump’s goal of making the United States the world’s crypto hub. His Paris statements extended to the agenda, outlining details on custody, capital formation and platform rules.
Atkins’ remarks came two days after Nasdaq President Tal Cohen posted on LinkedIn that tokenization was a “extraordinary opportunity” for the global market. Cohen said Nasdaq filed with the SEC to enable trading of tokenized securities, highlighting how major institutions are moving towards adopting blockchain.
Beyond cryptography, Atkins is working on lists of foreign companies, accounting standards and European regulations. He raised concerns about “double materiality” in the EU reporting law, urging the IASB’s stable funding, and said the SEC may reconsider its 2007 decision to allow the IFR without settling with US GAAP if funding issues continue.
The SEC Chair also emphasized artificial intelligence as a power to fundamentally restructure financial markets. He described the shift towards “agent finance,” where autonomous AI systems can run transactions, allocate capital, manage risk at a rate when humans can’t match, and manage risk with compliance embedded directly in the code.
He said such a system could open up sophisticated strategies to a wider range of investors while providing a faster and cheaper market. Coupled with blockchain infrastructure, these tools can empower individuals, increase competition and unlock new growth.
However, Atkins warned that regulators must provide “common-sense guardrails” without overreacting out of fear. He argued that capital markets on the chain and AI-led finance are on the horizon, and that America must choose leadership to ensure that the next generation of financial innovation is rooted in its home.
Atkins concluded by saying regulators must balance innovation with investor protection. “It’s time for Crypto,” he said, adding that the US market should lead the next wave of financial innovation, rather than seeing it expand overseas.
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