2026 Crypto Regulation Watershed: Paul Atkins Explains SEC New Rules, Bitcoin $67,377 Watchpoint

Beijing Time, February 12, 2026, early morning, the Chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Paul Atkins, faced the most intense bipartisan scrutiny since taking office during a hearing before the House Financial Services Committee. Democratic lawmakers sharply criticized the SEC’s decision to suspend enforcement actions against Justin Sun, Tron, and several leading crypto platforms, questioning whether Atkins was succumbing to political pressure from the White House; Republicans, meanwhile, focused on whether the new leadership could fulfill its promise to replace aggressive enforcement with clear rules. This three-hour hearing not only revealed deep divisions in Washington over crypto regulation pathways but also unexpectedly outlined a clear future regulatory framework.

This article combines the transcript of the hearing with the latest Gate market data as of February 12, 2026, to analyze Paul Atkins’s regulatory shift and reflect the real market feedback for Bitcoin ($67,377) and Ethereum ($1,962.54) during this policy vacuum period.

Hearing Clash: The Battle Between Confidentiality and Political Ties

On February 11, 2026, Washington time, SEC Chair Paul Atkins attended a oversight hearing before the House Financial Services Committee. This was the most intense and pointed questioning he has faced since assuming the chairmanship in April 2025.

The focus centered on the SEC’s suspension of enforcement actions against the Tron Foundation and Justin Sun, as well as the decision to withdraw lawsuits against several major crypto platforms. Representative Maxine Waters directly accused the SEC of abandoning most crypto enforcement cases from the previous administration and demanded Atkins explain whether this was influenced by the Trump family’s crypto projects.

In response, Atkins demonstrated a cautious legal stance. He stated that, due to SEC confidentiality rules, he could not publicly discuss specific cases including Justin Sun. However, he was open to arranging confidential briefings within the scope of regulations to address lawmakers’ concerns about the unresolved status of these cases.

Data Evidence: A Clear Shift in SEC Enforcement Direction

The concerns of Democratic lawmakers are not unfounded. According to Cornerstone Research, SEC enforcement actions in the 2025 calendar year decreased by 30% compared to 2024, with cases related to cryptocurrencies dropping sharply by 60%.

In response to criticisms about “damage to institutional reputation,” Atkins defended that the SEC still possesses a “strong enforcement mechanism,” and that the current adjustments are more about a normal strategic reset following leadership changes. He emphasized that the SEC’s mission remains to combat “genuine fraud,” whether in traditional markets or crypto.

New Regulatory Paradigm: Aligning Project Crypto and the Clarity Act

While Democrats focus on “the past,” Republicans are more concerned with “the future.” Atkins spent considerable time elaborating on his long-planned regulatory framework during the hearing.

He revealed that the SEC is collaborating with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) through “Project Crypto” to develop joint rules. The core of this project is an economic substance-based classification framework for digital assets, dividing tokens into four categories: digital commodities/network tokens, digital collectibles, digital tools, and tokenized securities.

This framework aims to replace the ambiguous, case-by-case enforcement approach of the past decade. Atkins explicitly stated that SEC rules will be closely aligned with the House-passed Clarity Act to provide federal-level certainty for the crypto market.

Additionally, Atkins proposed an “Innovation Exemption,” a time-limited, transparent measure similar to a regulatory sandbox, designed to facilitate rapid market entry for compliant crypto products while ensuring strong investor protections.

Market Outlook: Price Anchors Amid Policy Clarification

The parallel “softening” and “standardization” of regulation have subtly influenced market psychology. Although macro liquidity has not yet fully loosened, the tail risks associated with policy are diminishing.

According to the latest Gate market data as of February 12, 2026, the market is digesting the hearing’s information with some divergence:

• Bitcoin (BTC) is priced at $67,377, with a 24-hour trading volume of $1.07 billion, a market cap of $1.38 trillion, and a market share of 55.93%. The price has increased modestly by +0.43% over the past 24 hours, indicating that Bitcoin, as a store of value, remains resilient during the transition from “uncertainty” to “rule-based competition.”
• Ethereum (ETH) is priced at $1,962.54, with a 24-hour trading volume of $250.1 million, a market cap of $252.82 billion, and a market share of 10.04%. ETH’s price declined by -2.52% in the past 24 hours, reflecting a cautious stance among investors amid the maturation of Layer 2 solutions and the clarification of token classification standards.

From a market structure perspective, if Atkins’s token classification framework is successfully implemented, it will directly benefit high-liquidity assets that can be clearly categorized as “digital commodities,” providing more transparent guidance for compliant exchanges.

Industry Impact: From “Litigation Risks” to “Business Logic”

For global crypto investors and compliant platforms like Gate, Atkins’s SEC signals a shift: Washington is no longer trying to use 1930s securities law to freeze 2020s blockchain technology.

In recent years, industry giants faced multi-million dollar fines and delistings over unregistered securities allegations. Now, with Atkins suspending historic cases and promoting legislative coordination between Congress and the Senate, the U.S. is transitioning from a “regulatory pressure cooker” to a “testing ground.”

As Atkins stated during the hearing: “Economic reality determines legal classification, not labels.” This may become the defining phrase of 2026’s crypto compliance year.

With the Senate version of the Clarity Act still uncertain, Atkins has already indicated that the SEC will not wait for Congress. Establishing rules through administrative measures first has become a pragmatic choice for this SEC term.

Conclusion

Paul Atkins’s hearing response, ostensibly a reaction to Democratic concerns about “regulatory rollback” and “political influence,” actually signals a formal end to the old era for the entire industry.

For users trading on Gate, this means the assets you trade are gradually gaining a legal identity aligned with modern financial logic. The regulatory sword of Damocles has not disappeared, but it is being forged into a measuring stick for innovation.