Senator Elizabeth Warren took aim at SEC Chair Paul Atkins during a Senate Banking Committee hearing, accusing the agency of going easy on cryptocurrency companies with ties to former President Donald Trump.
Warren accused SEC Chair Atkins of providing preferential treatment to cryptocurrency firms connected to Trump during a heated Senate hearing.
Warren claimed the SEC has weakened investor protections and pursued fewer enforcement actions than at any point in the past decade. She pointed to public data from 2025 showing sharp declines in regulatory cases. According to Warren, the agency no longer goes after firms connected to Trump, creating what she sees as a troubling pattern.
The senator highlighted several high-profile case dismissals that raised eyebrows. Kraken, Coinbase, and Gemini each had enforcement actions dropped after donating $1 million to Trump’s inauguration. Binance saw its case dismissed following a $2 billion stablecoin deal involving Trump family connections. These cases typically involved registration issues, though seven of the nine dismissals actually happened before Atkins became chair.
Warren also criticized the release of convicted fraudsters like Devon Archer and Carlos Watson after receiving presidential clemency. Trevor Milton walked free following a pardon, conspicuously after contributing $1.8 million to Trump’s campaign fund.
Atkins pushed back hard against these accusations. He insisted the agency wasn’t showing favoritism to Trump-linked companies. He explained that most crypto case dismissals stemmed from registration problems that predated his leadership. The SEC has opened roughly five new crypto-related cases since the current administration began, he noted, showing the agency remains active in fighting misconduct.
House Democrats joined the criticism pile, accusing the SEC of abandoning crypto enforcement altogether. They argued this approach undermines trust in digital assets and ignores potential scams. Representative Maxine Waters pressed Atkins over the indefinite pause of the agency’s lawsuit against Tron founder Justin Sun.
Atkins outlined his vision for crypto regulation, focusing on issuance, custody, and trading. He contrasted his approach with former Chair Gary Gensler’s methods, aiming to reduce uncertainty and foster innovation. The SEC launched Project Crypto and provided clearer guidance on disclosures. The agency even approved generic listing standards for crypto and established frameworks for stablecoin regulation through the GENIUS Act. Atkins committed to reserving enforcement for fraud and manipulation while using rulemaking and interpretive authority for developing fit-for-purpose standards. Atkins wants America to become the crypto capital Trump envisions.
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