Paul Atkins, the nominee to take over the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, is set for a U.S. Senate confirmation hearing next week, putting President Donald Trump's pick for the SEC chairmanship on track to start working as soon as next month. At the same March 27 hearing, the Senate panel is also weighing the nomination of Jonathan Gould to take over the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which oversees U.S. national banks — a key area of interest for crypto firms that have fought a long battle for banking access, the Senate Banking Committee announced in an email Thursday. Atkins is a former commission of the SEC and a digital assets advocate who ran a Washington firm advising clients on financial compliance issues. He's expected to carry on the SEC's pro-crypto momentum that began after Trump returned to the White House and appointed Acting Chairman Mark Uyeda. The OCC will not only be a key agency for opening digital asset sector access to U.S. banking, but it may also be a regulator for future stablecoin issuers, according to current legislative efforts. The panel will also consider Luke Pettit's nomination to be the assistant secretary for the Treasury during Thursday's session. Trump nominated Atkins to succeed former SEC Chair Gary Gensler, whose actions heading up the securities regulator drew accusations of "regulation by enforcement" from the crypto industry. Uyeda has changed his predecessor's approach since taking over the agency on a provisional basis, withdrawing from several lawsuits the SEC filed against crypto firms in past years and pausing others. The SEC has also told a number of crypto companies that it was closing investigations into these firms.
