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What to know:
A lot of stars would need to align for Paul Atkins, reportedly president-elect Donald Trump’s top candidate to chair the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, to take the job.
It is an unattractive role for him because of the amount of work needed to turn around the bloated agency he believes was mismanaged by outgoing SEC chair Gary Gensler, a person familiar with Atkins' thinking said.
Reluctance to clean up Gensler's “mess” has been shared by former Commodity Futures Trading Commission chair Chris Giancarlo, who has advocated for Atkins to take the SEC job and was once considered a candidate himself.
Atkins, a former SEC commissioner, was spotted at Trump's Mar-A-Lago resort this week, one industry source said. He was scheduled to interview for the SEC chair role Sunday and Monday, said another person with knowledge of the meetings.
Atkins is the founder and CEO of Patomak Global Partners, a global consulting firm specializing in strategy, risk management, and regulatory compliance. Patomak serves crypto firms, but they are a small part of its diversified practice, which includes traditional financial clients, public companies, trade associations, law firms, banks and insurance companies. Prior to starting Patomak, Atkins was a commissioner of the SEC from 2002 to 2008, appointed by former President George W. Bush. During his time at the SEC, Mark Uyeda and Hester Pierce, who later became commissioners, worked as counsel to Atkins.
Atkins is well regarded in conservative circles. According to a source close to Atkins, he is friendly with Key Square Group founder Scott Bessent, the billionaire hedge fund manager selected by Trump to become Treasury Secretary.
Atkins is reluctant to leave his practice, the person familiar with his thinking said. Taking up the SEC chair role would require him to resign from his business interests, which he may only do once his firm is well-positioned to operate without him, sources said.
Other candidates
Crypto attorney Teresa Goody Guillén is also said to be under consideration by the Trump transition team. Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao, Cardano creator Charles Hoskinson and other crypto executives are privately and publicly supporting her based on her pro-crypto views and experience serving and arguing against the SEC on behalf of blockchain clients. Guillén has declared on X that she wants to “Make Crypto Great Again” and has been polling the public on the most effective ways the agency could address regulatory challenges.
Last week, crypto executive and former acting Comptroller of the Currency Brian Brooks was believed to be a lead candidate to helm the SEC, gathering strong support from Web3 proponents and at one point leading the odds on prediction market Kalshi. But his lack of securities law experience made him a longshot, sources said.
Circle Chief Legal Officer and Head of Corporate Affairs Heath Tarbert is reportedly being considered. He is a former CFTC chair, assistant Treasury secretary, and associate White House counsel. "We won't comment on speculation,” said a Circle spokesperson.
Brad Bondi was floated as a possible candidate, and while he has been described as “pro-crypto,” critics privately said he has little experience in Web3, and is more of a traditional securities lawyer with a background serving the SEC and opposing the agency in court. But Bondi’s trump card, as it were, could be his close ties to the Trump administration. His sister Pam Bondi was nominated to become U.S. attorney general and is a Trump loyalist who represented the former president during his 2020 impeachment trial.
Similarly, former SEC investment management director and Kirkland and Ellis partner Norm Champ is a Trump campaign backer who told CoinDesk “I would be honored to serve as SEC Chair if President Trump thinks I am the right person for the job.” But his traditional securities background has not gathered excitement in the crypto community.
Trump’s pick for Manhattan’s U.S. attorney, Jay Clayton, has strongly endorsed attorneys Robert Stebbins and Dalia Blass, sources said, whom he supervised as SEC chief from 2017 to 2020. Crypto experts have been outspoken against them.
“Stebbins personally signed off, approved and encouraged 80 or so SEC crypto-related enforcement actions, including the most controversial of all – the SEC case involving Ripple,” wrote Ripple Labs advocate and former SEC attorney John Reed Stark on X. The SEC partially lost that case when a judge ruled that XRP sales by Ripple Labs on public exchanges did not fall under the definition of a security; the agency has said it will appeal that decision.
“Big Crypto is extraordinarily powerful and will have a lot of influence in the SEC Chair’s selection and I can’t imagine Big Crypto allowing Bob Stebbins to get the SEC Chair nomination,” Stark wrote.
Republican SEC commissioner Uyeda could become acting chair of the SEC after Gary Gensler steps down on inauguration day if the Senate doesn't confirm his SEC pick by January 20. Commissioner Pierce, another favorite for the role, has privately stated she is not interested in being the chair on an acting or permanent basis, which would improve Uyeda’s chances. Whether he would stay in the role is less certain.
“I expect Trump may prefer to bring in someone new of his own," crypto lawyer Jake Chervinsky stated on X.
Robinhood chief legal officer Dan Gallagher was said to be a top SEC chief candidate before the election, but he has since said he is not interested.
“I have made it clear that I do not wish to be considered for this position.” Gallagher told CoinDesk in an emailed statement. “I feel I can make tremendous progress to democratize finance in my current role, and I will remain a vocal and consistent advocate for positive change in our markets."
Atkins, Guillén, and Uyeda declined to comment for this story. Trump transition team spokesperson Karoline Leavitt, Brooks, Brad Bondi, Stebbins, and Blass did not respond to requests for comment.
Washington experts say the Trump administration will likely roll back the SEC’s oversight of the $3 trillion digital assets market in favor of the CFTC. The latter agency is widely perceived to take a lighter touch because the market it regulates – derivatives – is dominated by sophisticated institutional traders rather than retail investors with less risk tolerance.
The SEC has led a wide-ranging campaign against digital assets companies that was often criticized as unfair. The five-member commission will additionally need to fill a commissioner position following Jamie Lizárraga’s announced departure. The crypto community is keeping a close eye on the SEC chair selection process, which is expected to conclude in the coming days.