SEC marks first year of pro-crypto pivot

TLDR

The SEC is marking one year under Chair Paul Atkins after a clear move away from regulation by enforcement toward a more rules-based, crypto-friendly framework.

1. Over the past year, the SEC under Atkins has prioritized regulatory clarity, launching a new ACT strategy and dropping several high-profile crypto enforcement actions.
2. The shift has supported ETF approvals, closer coordination with the CFTC, and greater industry ethereum/">optimism that the US will again compete as a crypto hub.
3. Key open questions remain around final rulemaking and future politics, so this friendlier stance is helpful but not yet irreversible.

Confidence: high, based on multiple April 2026 regulator and media summaries.

Deep Dive

1. What Actually Changed

Paul Atkins took over the SEC in April 2025, and his first year is being framed as a "historic" reset toward regulatory clarity and growth, especially for digital assets, including at an NYSE event marking his first year under Atkins.

He has formally rejected the previous "regulation by enforcement" approach and introduced the ACT strategy - Advance, Clarify, Transform - which focuses on embracing innovation, issuing clearer guidance, and modernizing outdated rules for digital assets and public markets. This was laid out in a detailed ACT strategy announcement.

Under acting chair Mark Uyeda and then Atkins, the SEC created a crypto task force, signed a coordination memorandum with the CFTC, and began treating most cryptocurrencies as non-securities while reserving fraud and manipulation enforcement powers, according to a one-year review.

2. How Crypto Has Responded

With lawsuits against major firms such as Coinbase and Binance being dismissed or wound down and a friendlier interpretation of many tokens, prediction markets and analysts see the pivot as materially bullish for crypto assets and infrastructure. Some coverage links improved price expectations in BTC, ETH, and XRP to this regulatory easing.

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse, who previously fought the SEC for years, has called Atkins a "breath of fresh air" and contrasted him with the prior "hostile regime" that he described as waging a "war on a technology" in an interview.

New initiatives such as social-impact focused foundations and token frameworks that rely on the SEC's emerging "token taxonomy" show projects actively designing around the new guidance to stay compliant while avoiding full securities registration in some cases.

3. What To Watch Next

Despite the friendlier stance, the SEC still needs to complete detailed rulemakings on token classification, exchange and broker registration paths, custody, and disclosures, several of which are only in concept or proposal stage.

Congress has not yet passed a comprehensive market-structure bill, and some lawmakers criticize the drop in enforcement actions and potential conflicts, so a change in political leadership could partially reverse this pivot.

Over the next year, the most important signals will be final SEC rules under the ACT agenda, how consistently they are applied across different token types, and whether coordination with the CFTC holds up in contentious cases.

Conclusion

One year into Paul Atkins tenure, the SEC has clearly shifted toward a more predictable, pro-innovation stance on crypto, easing some of the existential regulatory overhang that weighed on the sector.

If the ACT strategy and token taxonomy harden into durable rules, the US could regain ground as a primary venue for compliant crypto issuance, trading, and ETF products, but investors and builders still need to track rulemaking progress and political risk closely.