The head of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) told an audience in Washington this week that the U.S has fallen roughly 10 years behind other countries when it comes to cryptocurrency, and he’s making it his mission to catch up.
Paul Atkins, who chairs the SEC, didn’t mince words during his appearance at DC Fintech Week on Wednesday. He called cryptocurrency work “job one” for the agency and said he wants to bring back the innovators who left for friendlier regulatory climates abroad.
“I like to say that we’re the securities and innovation commission now,” Atkins joked.
He explained that the SEC plans to use its exemption powers to let companies experiment with new technologies without getting bogged down in red tape. The goal is to create what Atkins called an “innovation exemption” for emerging ideas.
Atkins also talked about the potential for superapps, which are one-stop shops for payments, investing, and banking that have taken off in China but haven’t materialized in America. He thinks better regulations could change that.
The SEC chair even floated the idea of treating regulatory coordination like an app itself, though he didn’t spell out exactly how that would work. What is clear is his determination to stop crypto companies from viewing the U.S. as an afterthought.
