SEC Chair Atkins shifts to crypto-friendly stance, impacting Bitcoin, Ethereum markets

SEC Chair Paul Atkins’ shift toward a more crypto‑friendly stance has been priced into prediction markets, pushing Bitcoin and Ethereum contracts to unanimous bullish odds. Polymarket shows Bitcoin above $68,000 on April 16 and Ethereum above $1,700 on April 17 both at 100% YES, with uniform pricing across maturities and no variation in the term structure. Traders appear confident that improved regulatory clarity under Atkins will spur substantial upside—an expected ~15% move is cited—potentially reducing institutional reluctance and re‑positioning the U.S. as a more welcoming jurisdiction for crypto. Concrete SEC signals (e.g., Project Crypto or a token taxonomy) could validate the shift and move longer‑dated contract pricing further.