SEC Chairman Paul Atkins Backs Self-Custody, Calls It a ‘Foundational American Value’
In a significant shift in regulatory tone, SEC Chairman Paul Atkins expressed strong support for crypto self-custody, describing it as a “foundational American value” during the agency’s final Crypto Task Force Roundtable held Monday.
Titled “DeFi and the American Spirit,” the event marked a turning point in how the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission may approach decentralized finance and digital asset ownership moving forward.
“The right to have self-custody of one’s private property is a foundational American value that should not disappear when one logs onto the internet,” Atkins said.
His comments suggest a departure from previous SEC leadership, which largely favored more centralized control and oversight of crypto assets via third-party custodians. Atkins now appears to be championing a framework that affords greater autonomy to individual users and decentralized protocols.
Atkins emphasized that intermediation—while often necessary—can impose unwarranted transaction costs and may inhibit participation in on-chain activities such as staking.
“I am 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 on-chain activities,” he said.
The chairman’s remarks could signal upcoming policy developments that support decentralized infrastructure, enhance user sovereignty, and reduce regulatory friction for compliant self-custody solutions.
As the industry continues to evolve, Atkins’ comments may serve as a green light for DeFi developers and wallet providers advocating for more user-controlled asset frameworks in the U.S.
Kosta has reported on cryptocurrency markets and blockchain infrastructure since 2020, bringing over six years of hands-on experience in the crypto industry built through daily tracking of markets, trends, and emerging blockchain developments. Specializing in Bitcoin on-chain analysis, institutional ETF flows, and digital asset price action, his work at Coindoo has been cited by other news agencies and consistently covers market developments with a focus on data-driven reporting across Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and XRP. Over the years, Kosta has contributed to multiple crypto media outlets in different regions, authoring over 6,000 articles across the sector. His reporting spans cryptocurrency markets and the broader fintech industry, tracking not only price action but also the technological and regulatory forces shaping the ecosystem. To support his analysis, Kosta actively leverages on-chain data and metrics from leading platforms such as Santiment, Glassnode, and CryptoQuant, enabling deeper, evidence-based market insights. He believes in the power of transparency and the data that underpins the blockchain ecosystem. His academic background in Marketing Management from Denmark further complements his analytical approach, adding a strong understanding of communication strategy and content positioning to his work.
