US Securities and Trade Fee (SEC) Chair Paul Atkins took intention on the earlier administration’s crypto insurance policies within the regulator’s newest roundtable occasion exploring digital asset regulation.

In a Monday occasion led by the SEC’s crypto process pressure titled “DeFi and the American Spirit,” Atkins stated the prior administration, suggesting the company’s stance on digital property below former chair Gary Gensler, took a heavy-handed strategy via the courts. He added that the SEC’s insurance policies on staking as a service supplier wanted congressional approval to have lasting authority, and touted self-custody as a “foundational American value.”

“I’m in favor of affording greater flexibility to market participants to self-custody crypto assets, especially where intermediation imposes unnecessary transaction costs or restricts the ability to engage in staking and other onchain activities,” Atkins stated on the roundtable occasion.

“Unfortunately, the prior administration undermined innovation in self-custodial digital wallets and other onchain technologies by asserting through regulatory actions that the developers of such software may be conducting brokerage activities.”

The roundtable occasion was the fifth one in 2025, organized by the SEC’s crypto process pressure, headed by Commissioner Hester Peirce. Earlier roundtable discussions centered on crypto buying and selling regulation, custody, tokenization, and the standing of tokens as securities. As of Monday, no further roundtable occasions appeared on the SEC’s calendar. 

Associated: Securities legal guidelines transcend easy definitions — SEC Commissioner

SEC Commissioner Caroline Crenshaw stated “…these roundtables have given us a lot to grapple with, to say the least. While the series was billed as a ‘spring sprint towards crypto clarity,’ I am unsure whether we’ve identified much that can be simply or quickly clarified […] With issues this complex and stakes this high, it’s better to do it right than fast.”