SEC Strengthens Enforcement Division’s Crypto Unit
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has nearly doubled the size of its Enforcement Division’s crypto unit. SEC Chairman Gary Gensler said the regulator “will be better equipped to police wrongdoing in the crypto markets while continuing to identify disclosure and controls issues pertaining to cybersecurity.”
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced on Tuesday that it has nearly doubled the size of the Division of Enforcement’s unit “responsible for protecting investors in crypto markets and from cyber-related threats.”
Citing “the allocation of 20 additional positions to the unit,” the SEC detailed:
The newly renamed Crypto Assets and Cyber Unit (formerly known as the Cyber Unit) in the Division of Enforcement will grow to 50 dedicated positions.
The unit has brought more than 80 enforcement actions related to fraudulent and unregistered crypto-asset offerings and platforms since its creation in 2017, the SEC revealed, noting that they resulted in monetary relief totalling more than $2 billion.
SEC Chair Gary Gensler added that the unit “has successfully brought dozens of cases against those seeking to take advantage of investors in crypto markets.” He elaborated:
By nearly doubling the size of this key unit, the SEC will be better equipped to police wrongdoing in the crypto markets while continuing to identify disclosure and controls issues relating to cybersecurity.
The expanded crypto unit will focus on securities law violations involving crypto-asset offerings, crypto exchanges, lending and staking products, decentralized finance (defi) platforms, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and stable coins.
Gurbir S. Grewal, director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement, commented:
Crypto markets have exploded in recent years, with retail investors bearing the brunt of abuses in this space. Meanwhile, cyber-related threats continue to pose existential risks to our financial markets and participants.
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