#CryptoRoundTableRemarks US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Paul Atkins told the agency’s fifth cryptocurrency roundtable on June 9 that the ability to hold crypto without an intermediary belongs at the core of US law.

Atkins opened the “DeFi and the American Spirit” session by linking decentralized (DeFi) finance with the country’s traditions of private property rights and open markets.

He described blockchains as peer-to-peer databases that record ownership of digital assets without central control. Atkins also noted that network participants compete in a fee marketplace to validate transactions and keep ledgers in sync.

He stated:

“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.”

The new SEC chair contrasted that model with the prior administration’s approach, saying it sought to discourage participation through enforcement actions and public statements that characterized mining, validating, and staking services as securities activity.

He credited the Division of Corporation Finance for later clarifying that routine validation work through staking does not fall under federal securities rules but added that the guidance was insufficient because it lacks a rulemaking force. #BTC