Senate committee member urges clearer digital-asset rules, praises SEC leadership and calls for capital-formation bills

A member of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs opened the hearing by welcoming Jer Atkins, an official at the Securities and Exchange Commission, and urged Congress to pass legislation to provide clearer rules for digital assets and bolster capital formation.

The speaker argued that prior regulatory approaches left businesses and investors exposed to “regulation by enforcement,” saying that instead of “clear rules, businesses, builders, and investors were left with confusion, subpoenas, and lawsuits.” The committee member said that unclear U.S. rules pushed innovation overseas and that Congress should act so that “digital asset innovation will happen here at home in places like Greenville, South Carolina, Atlanta, Georgia, or Cary, North Carolina, not abroad anymore.”

The senator emphasized the need for legislative clarity, endorsing the Senate version of the Clarity Act as a bill that would “define responsibilities for regulators, protect investors, and give businesses the certainty they need to innovate in The United States while keeping consumer protection paramount.” The committee member framed the measure as complementary to the SEC’s work under Atkins and called on colleagues to advance the bill.

On capital markets more broadly, the speaker praised recent SEC moves under Atkins aimed at easing burden on issuers and helping smaller companies go public. “You’ve pledged to make IPOs great again,” the speaker said, and urged fixes to the public-company disclosure regime, arguing that current rules raise costs and deter firms from listing in U.S. markets.

The statement also noted specific regulatory changes at the agency: the SEC has, according to the speaker, extended compliance dates for several rules finalized under Chair Gensler and withdrawn proposed rules the speaker said would have imposed ESG requirements on registered funds and investment advisers if finalized. The committee member credited the SEC’s approach with returning the agency to a focus on protecting investors and facilitating capital formation.

The member closed by saying the committee would work to advance the Empowering Main Street in America Act, described as a capital-formation package to help small businesses grow and expand investment opportunities for everyday Americans, and added: “I look forward to your testimony.”

The hearing then moved to the witness testimony phase.