SEC Chair Paul Atkins has confirmed that the Senate is preparing to take up a crucial bipartisan bill this week.
The bill is designed to end the regulatory “uncertainty” that has plagued the digital asset industry for years.
In a recent interview, Atkins outlined a bullish roadmap for 2026, making it clear that the administration is moving quickly to fulfill its promise of making the United States the “crypto capital of the world.”
SEC vs. CFTC
The upcoming legislation aims to finally settle the jurisdictional competition between the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
Atkins has stressed that the primary focus of the new legislation is to delineate clear lines of authority. This will make sure that crypto firms no longer have to guess which regulator they answer to.
“This week is an important week, because the Senate will be taking up a bill, and it’s a bipartisan bill, but which will bring clarity and certainty to the crypto world, and as to the division of responsibility between the SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission,” Atkins said. “So important week and it’ll set the tone for the rest of the year, I think,” he said.
Atkins sought to reassure the market that the era of inter-agency conflict is over. He specifically praised new CFTC Chairman Mike Selig, predicting a harmonious working relationship that will benefit the industry.
The “Crypto Capital” mandate
According to Atkins, this legislative push is a core component of the administration’s economic strategy. He argued that clear rules are the prerequisite for global dominance in the sector.
“So now comes the next step, a good bipartisan effort by both houses of Congress to bring certainty again to the market structure regarding cryptocurrencies, and this fits in with the President’s focus on making America the crypto capital of the world,” Atkins explained. “So if you have clear legislation… and clear rules, you have certainty in the marketplace. So I think that we’re behind it. We are very bullish on the effects of a bill getting to the President, to be signed this year, and I think that’ll really be a huge help to the crypto marketplace for investors in that.”
Atkins has also noted that this new market structure bill builds upon the foundation laid by the “GENIUS Act.” The latter was signed late last year.
“Well, the Congress and passed and the President signed a bill earlier, well, late last year, that was called the GENIUS Act, and that was really seminal,” Atkins said. “It was the first statute that the United States government has adopted to recognize crypto assets, so that was great, and it helped to bring clarity and also to stablecoins,” he said.