SEC Chairman Paul Atkins: Will establish appropriate standards for the crypto market.

[Chairman of the SEC Paul Atkins: Will Establish Appropriate Standards for the Crypto Market] Paul Atkins, the new chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), stated on Monday, "This is a new era for the SEC." Policy making will no longer rely on temporary enforcement actions but will utilize existing powers to formulate rules, interpretations, and exemptions to establish appropriate standards for market participants. Atkins criticized the approach of former chairman Gary Gensler, stating that the SEC had previously taken an ostrich-like approach—perhaps hoping that crypto assets would disappear on their own. Atkins also revealed that the SEC may update the custody rules to allow self-custody under certain conditions, and explore whether to provide conditional exemptions for those looking to launch new products and services.