Trumps pick for SEC chairman faces noisy confirmation hearing over crypto
There will soon be a new Wall Street sheriff in Washington – after all the gunsmoke clears out on Capitol Hill, that is.Paul Atkins, a long-time securities lawyer, is expected to pass his confirmation hearing next week as Donald Trump’s chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission.Nevertheless, my sources with ties to both parties say he faces a potentially noisy proceeding over his pro-crypto stance, and how he will carry out Trump’s plans to deregulate a sector that took intense heat during the Biden years.The problem with crypto is that while its defenders are very active on social media and big in throwing money at Trump during the 2024 presidential campaign, it’s an industry that punches above its weight.As we all know, there’s lots of speculation in the digital coins like Bitcoin, and Ethereum, not to mention all those so-called meme coins (Trump and the First Lady have one).It’s a nearly $3 trillion business with a supposed utility that remains unproven.
The coins are attached to a technology known as “the blockchain,” which is designed to transact business in a cheaper, seamless manner.But when was the last time you bought a cup of coffee using the blockchain or a piece of crypto?There’s also money laundering.
Crypto is one of the favorite modes of transaction for the global criminal underworld no matter how many bros hold the stuff here in the US, and Trump wants to put fewer regulatory eyeballs on it.So, there’s a bunch of disconnects Atkins will have to explain, I am told, particularly to Dem senators on the banking committee like the progressive firebrand from Massachusetts, Elizabeth Warren.Trump’s conversion to crypto bro might also come up.Recall: After throwing shade on the digital-coin business, Trump vowed to make the US the crypto capital of the world.
He saw an opening amid the Biden era crackdown for votes (some 50 million holders) and campaign money.I can’t tell you how many bros rushed to the polls to vote for Tru...