Golden Finance reported that Paul Atkins, the chairperson of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), proposed on Monday at a roundtable of the Cryptocurrency Task Force titled “DeFi and the American Spirit” that a more open attitude should be adopted towards self-custody of crypto assets.
Atkins said, “I support giving market participants greater flexibility to independently hold their crypto assets, especially when intermediaries impose unnecessary transaction costs or restrict participation in on-chain activities such as staking.” He emphasized that the self-custody model can reduce reliance on traditional financial intermediaries, allowing investors to have more direct control over assets, and at the same time stimulate the innovative vitality in the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector.
This statement is regarded as an important signal of the SEC’s regulatory stance on crypto assets. For a long time, US regulatory authorities have been skeptical about the security and compliance of self-hosted wallets, fearing that they might be used for money laundering or to evade regulation. Atkins believes that, on the premise of improving KYC (Know Your Customer) and AML (Anti-Money Laundering) measures, investors should be allowed to choose their own custody methods instead of being forced to rely on regulated intermediaries.
“The key lies in balancing innovation and risk,” Atkins added at the meeting. “Self-custody does not mean giving up regulation; rather, it requires smarter compliance tools, such as transaction tracking and identity verification through blockchain technology.” He disclosed that the SEC is collaborating with industry institutions to explore how to incorporate self-custody into the existing regulatory framework while avoiding suppressing technological innovation.
Industry insiders point out that Atkins’ remarks may bring new changes to the US crypto market. If the self-custody policy is relaxed, retail and institutional investors will be more likely to participate in DeFi lending, liquidity mining and other activities, promoting the development of related ecosystems. However, some experts have cautioned that the risk of private key management in self-hosted wallets is relatively high, and investors need to be vigilant against asset loss or hacker attacks.
As of the time of publication, the SEC has not yet issued a formal proposal for the self-custody policy. Atkins said that the relevant suggestions still need to go through the public comment and legal review process, and the details will be disclosed gradually in the future.
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