SEC Chair Calls Ethereum Critical as Bitcoin Market Structure Bill Nears Passage

Paul Atkins, the SEC Chair, continued to vouch to the cryptocurrency industry, as he predicted that the closely-watched Crypto Market Structure Bill, which he expects to pass soon in Washington.

SEC Chair Calls Ethereum Critical as Its Growth Continues

In an interview with Fox Business, Atkins praised Ethereum, which he believes has become critical in the financial services industry.

This statement came as Ethereum continues to gain market share across numerous sectors despite the elevated competition.

For example, data compiled by DeFi Llama shows that Ethereum has gained a market dominance of 75.8% in the decentralized finance (DeFi) industry. It has a total value locked (TVL) of $140 billion.

Solana, the second-biggest chain in the industry, has $18.4 billion in TVL. The BNB Smart Chain (BSC) has over $8.9 billion in TVL in the industry.

Most importantly, the amount of money bridged to Ethereum soared to over $442 billion, much higher than the other chains, combined.

Ethereum has also gained market share in the stablecoin industry, where it has over $187 billion in supply. This supply gives it a market dominance of over 60%.

Meanwhile, the network has gained share in the fast-growing real-world asset (RWA) tokenization industry that has accumulated nearly $20 billion in assets. It has over $12 billion of assets and a market share of 60%.

Ethereum is also a major player in the shrinking non-fungible token (NFT) industry. Data compiled by CryptoSlam shows that the Ethereum network’s NFTs had over $96 million in sales in the last 30 days, much higher than Bitcoin’s $37 million.

The main challenge, however, is that the Ethereum price has not done well despite the strong metrics. It was trading at $2,977 on Tuesday, down sharply from the year-to-date high of $4,965. It has also formed numerous bearish patterns, pointing to a bearish breakout, potentially to $2,500.

Atkins Expects the Bitcoin Market Structure Bill to Pass

Paul Atkins, who succeeded Gary Gensler, also believes that US politicians will soon pass the Market Structure Bill into law.

Popularly known as the CLARITY Act, the bill aims to establish a clear regulatory framework for digital assets. In particular, the bill aims to separate the roles of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

The bill will classify some cryptocurrencies as digital commodities and others as securities. As a result, lawmakers hope that creating these rules will bring clarity and help safeguard client assets.

The House of Representatives has already passed the CLARITY Act, while the Senate is expected to pass it in the coming weeks. Atkins hopes that the members will bridge the ongoing differences and pass it.

Crypto analysts believe that the CLARITY Act will lead to more institutional cash to the industry. Indeed, more institutions like BlackRock, JPMorgan, SoFi, Vanguard, and Charles Schwab have moved in the industry in some ways.

BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, has become the largest issuer of crypto ETFs, while Vanguard has begun offering crypto ETFs to its customers.

The CLARITY Act comes a few months after the US passed the GENIUS Act, which focused on the stablecoin industry.

At the same time, Atkins has focused on reducing regulations and enforcement in the crypto industry. For example, he has ended most of the lawsuits that Gary Gensler’s SEC brought during his tenure.

The most significant one was the conclusion of the SEC vs. Ripple Labs case, which had been ongoing for over four years. He also ended lawsuits on companies like Uniswap, Coinbase, Immutable, and Aave.

The SEC also announced that the agency will launch an innovation exemption that is designed to foster innovation in the industry while maintaining oversight. This exemption, which is expected to take effect in January, will enable companies to launch solutions without meeting the full SEC registration requirements.