The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has expanded its cryptocurrency unit with 20 additional positions to focus more on the crypto markets. The regulator said in a statement that with the latest move its crypto & cyber units (now renamed as the Division of Enforcement) will grow to 50 positions.
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SEC Chair, Gary Gensler, said that the move will better equip the SEC to police "wrongdoing in the crypto markets while continuing to identify disclosure and controls issues with respect to cybersecurity." He added:
"The Division of Enforcement’s Crypto Assets and Cyber Unit has successfully brought dozens of cases against those seeking to take advantage of investors in crypto markets."
With the expanded unit, the SEC wants to strengthen its supervision not only over cryptocurrencies, but also decentralized finance (DeFi), non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and stablecoins. Earlier, reports said the SEC is going to require publicly traded cryptocurrency trading firms and custodians to report clients' cryptocurrencies as assets and their obligation to the clients as liabilities.
Although the timeline for the change remains unclear, Gensler warned in January this year that the regulator will impose more regulatory burden on cryptocurrency exchanges if they fail to take steps in coming months to be more directly regulated.
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