US lawmakers question SEC Chair Atkins over President Trump's meme coin ties with Justin Sun

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Paul Atkins sat with House of Representatives members at Tuesday's House Appropriations Committee hearing to discuss the agency's stance on President Donald Trump's affiliated meme coin launches and the Trump family ties with Justin Sun.

SEC Chair probed on Trump's crypto involvement with Justin Sun

SEC Chair Atkins faced a series of questions from lawmakers in a House Appropriations Committee hearing on Tuesday. House members asked him about the SEC's action plans under his administration.

A recurring question from lawmakers centered around digital asset regulations as they raised questions on several crypto-related matters. The most striking questions centered around the regulator's take on President Donald Trump's meme coin ties and the development of a crypto regulatory framework.

Rep. Glenn Ivey asked Atkins about the Trump family's meme coins and the dumps that followed their launches. He also raised concerns about Tron founder Justin Sun's support for Trump's crypto projects despite an unsettled case with regulators.

The SEC charged Sun and three of his companies, including the TRON Foundation, with marketing unregistered securities and engaging in fraudulent market manipulation in 2023.

However, in February, the SEC and Sun jointly requested a 60-day pause in legal proceedings to explore a potential out-of-court resolution. According to Ivey, the pause came shortly after Sun made significant investments in World Liberty Financial (WLFI).

Sun is heavily invested in Trump-affiliated crypto projects, including an approximately $75 million stake in WLFI tokens in December 2024, becoming the project's largest known holder and adviser. In an X post on Tuesday, Justin Sun also revealed that he emerged as the top holder of the TRUMP meme coin and will attend the Thursday dinner event with President Trump.

The event, hosted by the team behind meme coin TRUMP, will gather the top 220 holders of the token for an exclusive dinner with President Trump. The team also announced that there would be a private reception and VIP tour of the White House for top 25 wallets on the leaderboard.

Ivey stated that these developments "smell very bad," requesting that Atkins clarify the Commission's stance on the matter.

Atkins responded by reiterating that meme coins are a new form of "collectibles" that don't fall under securities, referencing the SEC's Division of Corporation Finance's guide earlier in the year. In response to Justin Sun's case, Atkins claimed it is still very open, but he is not fully aware of the details.

With just 20 days in office, SEC Chair Atkins stated that his administration would continue approaching crypto regulations through notice and comment rulemaking rather than regulation via enforcement. 

He also voiced his expectations to begin working with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to regulate the crypto industry properly.