SEC chair Atkins signals new rules for onchain markets, AI-driven finance

SEC Chair Paul Atkins said Friday the agency is considering changes to how securities regulations apply to blockchain-based financial markets and AI-powered financial applications, as digital asset firms increasingly move trading and settlement activity onchain.

Speaking at the AI+ Expo in Washington, Atkins said the SEC is considering formal rulemaking around onchain trading systems, blockchain settlement infrastructure, automated financial applications and crypto vaults that increasingly blur the lines between traditional players.

Existing securities rules were designed around traditional market intermediaries such as brokers, exchanges and clearinghouses, he argued, while newer blockchain systems often combine those functions into a single software protocol. Atkins' predecessor, Gary Gensler, had held a similar view, though he focused more on centralized exchanges that the SEC argued provided those different functions under one roof at the time, mostly through lawsuits.

"A single protocol can execute a trade, manage collateral, route liquidity, execute trading strategies through vault structures and settle the transaction," Atkins said.

"We should remember that onchain market structures today are often hybrid in nature, combining elements of what are often referred to as 'traditional' and 'decentralized' finance," he said. "We should clarify how the Commission views the spectrum of models that may implicate our statutes through notice and comment rulemaking, using our exemptive authorities where necessary and prudent."

Atkins' remarks highlighted the latest step in the regulatory agency's pivot away from the enforcement-heavy approach under former Chair Gary Gensler. Under President Donald Trump's administartion, the SEC has issued crypto-related staff guidance, no-action reliefs and public statements aimed at reducing legal uncertainty for digital asset firms.

The chair framed the potential changes as part of a broader shift toward an AI-driven and automated financial infrastructure. He argued that artificial intelligence agents will increasingly participate in markets and financial decision-making at machine speed, while blockchain rails allow those systems to move value instantly.

The SEC, he said, should avoid locking emerging technologies into outdated rules.

"Our job is to set the rules of play and referee the game, not to pick the winning team," Atkins said.

He also reiterated support for congressional efforts to pass crypto market structure legislation, including the CLARITY Act, which would establish a regulatory framework for digital assets shared between the SEC and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).