Billionaire Palantir co-founder questioned whether U.S. securities rules unfairly limit middle-class investors’ access to private companies during an interview with Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman, Paul S. Adkins on a podcast episode released earlier this year.
Speaking on the episode, titled “Investing in 2026: What You Need to Know (SEC Chairman),” Lonsdale said retail investors can legally buy high-risk cryptocurrencies but are barred from investing in private companies he builds. “So yes, you can buy, like, Bathroom Coin 17 or whatever, and, and but you’re not allowed to buy this real serious thing I’m doing,” Lonsdale said. “Shouldn’t we be letting the middle class participate in, in, in fair ways in other things we’re doing more easily?”
Atkins agreed the issue was significant and said the SEC was working to clarify how digital assets are regulated. He said the agency was seeking to differentiate between securities and commodities, which fall under the oversight of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. “Meme coins and all that, and stable coins, those are not, for the most part, securities,” Atkins said, adding that the SEC’s goal was to make the rules clearer.
.@JTLonsdale asks @SECPaulSAtkins why Americans are allowed to gamble on shitcoins but not invest in private companies:
— Jawwwn (@jawwwn_) February 14, 2026
“People get angry at me saying, ‘I’m not allowed to invest in them,’ but the rules make it very hard for me to take their money.’”
“You can buy bathroomcoin17… pic.twitter.com/O3IANJx66g
The discussion centered on the SEC’s “accredited investor” framework, which limits participation in many private offerings to individuals who meet income or net worth thresholds. Atkins said those standards were designed to keep certain securities from being sold broadly to the public without registration. “A lot of people are not able to do it,” he said, noting that investors can legally buy lottery tickets or speculative assets while remaining excluded from some private markets.
Atkins said the agency was reviewing those rules following an executive order from President Donald Trump directing the SEC and the Department of Labor to examine whether retail investors should be allowed broader access to alternative investments. He said the agency was looking for ways to expand access while maintaining safeguards. “Can we devise a system with guardrails,” Atkins said, “that you can’t go and plunk all your assets into one thing and then lose it all?”
He said retail investors already have indirect exposure to private markets through pension funds and insurance products, and that the agency was considering whether more direct access could be permitted under certain conditions. Atkins cautioned that issues such as fees, liquidity, valuation and an investor’s position in a company’s capital structure would need to be addressed before changes could be made.
Lonsdale, an entrepreneur who has helped found companies including Palantir, Addepar and OpenGov, said he supported expanding access to private investments if similar risks were already allowed in cryptocurrency markets. “If we’re going to do crypto, we should do that, too,” he said.
Atkins, who previously served as an SEC commissioner from 2002 to 2008 and returned to the agency as chairman in 2025, said any expansion would be gradual. “We’re not going to throw the gates open,” he said, warning against exposing unsophisticated investors to complex or opaque products without adequate protections.
The exchange reflected broader debates in Washington over whether securities laws written decades ago should be adapted to account for the growth of private markets and digital assets. Lawmakers and regulators have been divided over whether loosening restrictions would promote innovation or increase the risk of losses among retail investors.
The SEC has not yet proposed formal rule changes tied to accredited investor standards or retail access to private markets, and Atkins did not provide a timeline for when any proposals might be released.
