An X account purporting to be Paul S. Atkins, President Donald Trump’s newly appointed Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), was tagged by the White House and several other Trump administration pages to celebrate Atkins being sworn in.
That account is now being used to solicit cryptocurrency. According to the SEC, the account never belonged to Atkins.
Atkins, who previously served as an SEC member from 2002 to 2008, officially took on the agency’s top position during a ceremony at the White House.
“I am honored by the trust and confidence President Trump and the Senate have placed in me to lead the SEC,” Atkins said. “As I return to the SEC, I am pleased to join with my fellow Commissioners and the agency’s dedicated professionals to advance its mission to facilitate capital formation; maintain fair, orderly, and efficient markets; and protect investors.”
On Tuesday, video of the ceremony was shared online with the official White House account tagging @PaulSAtkins.
Hours later, that account began soliciting cryptocurrency donations.
In a now-pinned post, which also has replies disabled, followers of the account are asked to “send some love” its way in the form of Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, Cardano, and Ripple.
“Hi crypto believers! I’m all in on this revolution,” the post says alongside numerous cryptocurrency wallet addresses.
The listed wallets, which were empty prior to the tweets, have received approximately $5,000 in various cryptocurrencies.
The White House has since deleted its tweet and reposted without tagging @PaulSAtkins.
Other posts from other official Trump administration accounts are still up, tagging the @PaulSAtkins account.
Atkins is a strong supporter of cryptocurrency, joining the advocacy organization Token Alliance in 2017. But it seems doubtful he’s asking X users directly for money.
The account’s bio contains contact information for an email address with the encrypted service Tuta Mail. The Daily Dot reached out to the email address to inquire about the post but did not receive a reply.
The supposed Atkins profile has a paid blue check mark, which any user can obtain. The account also has a “parody” disclaimer.
Copies of the account were not available on the Internet Archive, making it unclear when the blue check, email address, and parody disclaimer first appeared.
This post has been updated with comment from the SEC.
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