US SEC chairman Paul Atkins said Crypto’s time has come, promising to modernize the US Securities Rule Book and expand “Project Crypto” to bring markets on-chain.
When he spoke in Paris on September 10 at the OECD’s initial round table in the global financial markets, Atkins said SEC is shifting away from enforcement -driven decision making and will give clear rules for tokens, custody and trading platforms. “Politics will no longer be determined by ad hoc enforcement measures,” he said, calling the new approach “a golden age for economic innovation on American soil.”
Atkins said most tokens are not securities and promised bright line rules to determine when crypto assets will fall under SEC supervision. He said that entrepreneurs must be able to raise capital on-chain without “endless legal uncertainty” and promised a framework for platforms that integrate trade, lending and efforts under one license. Parental rules will also be updated to give investors and intermediaries more opportunities.
The SEC chairman said the Crypto project would clear the way for tokenized securities, new asset courses on-chain and decentralized financing software while ensuring investor protection. He also highlighted the potential for the “Super -App” trading platforms and emphasized the importance of keeping innovation in the United States.
Atkins first revealed Project Crypto on July 31, 2025 in Washington, which framed it as SEC’s “North Star” by supporting President Trump’s goal of making the United States the Krypto hub in the world. His Paris remarks expanded on this agenda and outlined more details of custody, capital formation and platform rules.
Atkins’ remarks came two days after Nasdaq President Tal Cohen on LinkedIn was announced that tokenization is an “extraordinary option” for the global markets. Cohen said Nasdaq had filed SEC to enable trading in tokenized securities, emphasizing how large institutions are moving towards blockchain resolution.
In addition to crypto, Atkin’s foreign corporate lists, accounting standards and European regulation. He raised concerns about “double material” in the EU reporting legislation, called for stable funding for IASB, and said SEC may be able to visit its 2007 decision to allow IFRS without reconciliation to US GAAP if financing questions continue.
The SEC chairman also highlighted artificial intelligence as a strength that could basically reshape the financial markets. He described a shift against “agentic funding” in which autonomous AI systems could perform trades, assign capital and control risk at speeds that no human can match, with compliance embedded directly in their code.
Such systems, he said, could deliver faster and cheaper markets while opening advanced strategies for a wider set of investors. Along with blockchain infrastructure, these tools could strengthen individuals, increase competition and unlock new growth.
However, Atkins warned that regulators should give “Commonsense -rows” without overreacting by fear. He argued that the capital markets on the chain and AI-driven funding are on the horizon and that America must choose leadership to ensure that the next generation of financial innovation is rooting at home.
Atkins ended by saying that regulators must create a balance between innovation and investor protection. “Crypto’s time has come,” he said, adding that the American markets should lead the next wave of economic innovation instead of seeing it unfolding abroad.
