00:00In your conversation with Chair Atkins, what did you learn from him that has you most energized for the year
00:06ahead in terms of what the SEC can take action on?
00:09Well, that clip that you just shared was probably the most exciting thing that he said. He alluded that we
00:15have more guidance coming out soon.
00:18The SEC chairman, Paul Atkins, you know, they announced Project Crypto right as he joined the helm at the SEC.
00:24There's been a big effort to provide regulatory clarity to the digital asset industry, which they've done.
00:31And really, the next step is helping bring the equity markets on chain.
00:36So he said in just a couple of weeks, we have another announcement coming to that end.
00:42Something we've been working very hard on for a number of years at the digital chamber is creating a regulatory
00:48framework and a way for businesses to register tokenized equities
00:53and put the equities industry on distributed ledger technology.
00:58So it sounds like that is coming very soon.
01:01There are so many benefits to the power of blockchain that can bring to this industry.
01:07You know, we talked about on stage and Chair Atkins had agreed that the innovation that we're seeing in the
01:14blockchain space can bring so many benefits to this ecosystem.
01:18Today, in the equities space, there's so many intermediaries that participate in a transaction.
01:25You have the investment advisors.
01:27You have your broker-dealers.
01:29You know, settlement can take days.
01:30Even settlement that takes seconds puts risk into the system.
01:34With a blockchain, you can do that instantaneously.
01:37So there's a lot of opportunity for growth.
01:40There's a lot of opportunity for improvement in the traditional financial system.
01:45And that was a big theme of the conversation yesterday.
01:47That was a big theme of the conversation happening at Bitcoin 2026 in Las Vegas, which is moving from crypto
01:54and Bitcoin as its own asset class to integrating it into the traditional financial services.
01:59I think, Perianne, a lot of people would say there's still a long way to go, at least from a
02:02legislative perspective.
02:03And things haven't moved as quickly as many had hoped.
02:06CoinDesk reporting over the weekend that the president said the White House won't let banks ruin the crypto market structure
02:11legislation.
02:12He was referring to the Clarity Act.
02:13What does that comment mean to you?
02:17Well, I mean, it is kind of telling.
02:19And the banks have really inserted themselves in this conversation, which, of course, you know, they're allowed to do.
02:24Every stakeholder can participate in the legislative process.
02:27But I've been a part of building the market structure bill for over seven years.
02:31We started this process many years ago.
02:33It originated in the House Agriculture Committee.
02:36And that work that happened many, many years ago has built into today what is the Clarity Act.
02:42And the banks weren't present in that conversation back then.
02:45But here at the last minute, when we actually have a legislative pathway to get the bill done, they now
02:50have a lot of opinions.
02:51So it's there really has been an effort from the bank lobby to ensure that their own interests are represented
03:00in the legislation.
03:02Again, that's their right.
03:03They have every right to have those conversations and to advocate for themselves.
03:06But it is coming to an expense of having the President Trump successfully accomplish his mission of getting this bill
03:17done.
03:18We've there's been markups pulled from the bill.
03:21The pathway to get this done has become less clear.
03:25We have members of the administration speaking yesterday and spoken a number of private events as well.
03:30We have members of Congress here from both the Senate Banking Committee and House Financial Services.
03:35And they still have a plan in place.
03:36But the clock is ticking.
03:38So there is a lot of risk here to not get it done.
03:42And, you know, there's a lot of cooks in the kitchen and a lot of people representing their own interests.
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