SEC Chair Paul Atkins on Friday signaled that the agency will propose new rules covering onchain markets and AI-driven financial systems, linking the rapid adoption of artificial intelligence in finance to a parallel push for blockchain-based market infrastructure and automated settlement.
What Atkins said
Speaking at a conference in Washington, Atkins pointed directly at the convergence of two trends: the explosion of AI tools in trading, lending, and portfolio management, and the steady migration of traditional market plumbing onto blockchain rails. He argued that the combination creates a need for updated regulatory frameworks — ones that don't just retrofit old rules but anticipate how automated settlement and onchain order books change risk, custody, and market integrity.
The remarks are the clearest signal yet that the SEC under Atkins sees AI not as a separate compliance issue but as a force that reshapes the very markets it oversees. His phrasing tied the two together: AI-powered financial systems, he said, are driving demand for the kind of real-time, programmable settlement that only blockchain-based markets can deliver. The implication is that any rulemaking will treat them as a single package.
Why the SEC is focusing on AI and onchain markets now
The timing reflects a broader regulatory reckoning. AI tools have quietly embedded themselves into everything from credit scoring to high-frequency trading strategies, often without clear disclosure. At the same time, onchain markets — decentralized exchanges, tokenized securities, and stablecoin-based settlement layers — have grown beyond the experimental phase. Atkins' message Friday suggests the SEC believes waiting for a crisis would be a mistake.
He didn't offer a detailed timeline or specific policy proposals. But the framing matters: by linking AI and onchain infrastructure in the same breath, Atkins is laying groundwork for rules that could cover both the software layer (AI models used in trading decisions) and the settlement layer (blockchain networks used to clear trades). That's a broader scope than earlier SEC efforts, which tended to treat crypto and AI as separate silos.
What comes next
The SEC is expected to publish a formal request for comment or a concept release in the coming weeks, according to people familiar with the agency's planning. That document would outline the questions Atkins raised — how to ensure AI-driven trading systems don't amplify risk, how to supervise automated settlement on permissionless blockchains, and where investor protections fit in a world without central clearinghouses.
No final rules are imminent. But Friday's speech sets the direction. For market participants building onchain infrastructure and AI tools, the signal is clear: the SEC is watching, and it plans to write the playbook rather than react to one.
