SEC Chairman Paul Atkins says the agency’s proposed Regulation Crypto Assets is designed to encourage crypto companies to return to the United States after leaving over the past four years. He has presented the plan as a direct response to what he describes as years of regulation by enforcement that pushed builders and fundraising activity offshore.

In Atkins’ account, the proposal’s two capital-raising exemptions are not a narrow technical change but part of a broader effort to make the US a workable base for crypto formation and financing. He argues that legal pathways at home are necessary if regulators want projects and investors to stay under US law rather than move abroad.

A bid to reverse an exodus

Atkins has tied the proposed framework to a wider goal of reversing the migration of crypto businesses out of the US. According to his comments, the issue was not simply uncertainty around digital-asset rules, but an enforcement-heavy approach that made it difficult for legitimate projects to raise capital domestically.

He argues that this posture over several years discouraged founders from building and fundraising in the US. In his view, the result was not tighter control of the sector, but the relocation of companies and capital to other jurisdictions.

Why the SEC chair says old rules fall short

Atkins says the existing securities framework was not built with token-based fundraising in mind. He has pointed in particular to rules dating back to the 1930s, arguing that they were never designed for modern crypto assets and have been applied in ways that harmed capital formation.

Rather than relying on lawsuits and pressure to register, Atkins contends the market needed tailored guidance. His criticism centers on the idea that court battles and registration demands substituted for clear rulemaking, leaving legitimate fundraising constrained.

Keeping fundraising under US law

In interviews, Atkins said the proposal is intended to give founders confidence that they can raise money from within the United States instead of seeking friendlier venues overseas. He has argued that restricting legal channels at home does not stop investment, because internet-based markets allow money to move across borders easily.

His position is that American investors will continue to send funds abroad if domestic rules make participation impractical. On that basis, he says the better policy is to allow that activity to happen in the US and under US law, rather than effectively pushing it into foreign markets.

Legislation still seen as the lasting solution

Even while promoting SEC action, Atkins has said congressional legislation remains essential for long-term certainty. He is backing passage of the CLARITY Act, which would split crypto oversight between the SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

Atkins has argued that only Congress can create durable rules that a future SEC cannot easily reverse. For now, he is presenting the proposed Regulation Crypto Assets and the push for the CLARITY Act as parallel parts of the same objective: bringing crypto firms and capital back into the United States under a more stable framework.

Source: beincrypto.com