SEC Chairman Paul Atkins warned that without proper policy safeguards, crypto and blockchain could be exploited by the federal government as tools for mass financial surveillance, posing serious risks to privacy and individual liberty. While acknowledging regulators’ strong appetite for data, he argued that bulk surveillance is fundamentally incompatible with a free society. Atkins emphasized that the crypto industry is also capable of building effective illicit-finance protections without undermining user privacy. Under his leadership, the SEC is advancing President Donald Trump’s “Project Crypto,” focusing on clarifying regulatory boundaries, encouraging innovation, and coordinating with the CFTC, while cautioning against turning the crypto ecosystem into a financial “panopticon.”