The Securities and Exchange Commission is nearly doubling the number of dedicated positions responsible for protecting cryptocurrency investors.
The agency announced Tuesday that it was adding 20 positions in its Crypto Assets and Cyber team, bringing the total to 50. The team, which was formerly known as the “cyber unit” will investigate securities law violations related to crypto offerings, exchanges and lending/staking products, as well as NFTs, DeFi platforms and stablecoins.
“The U.S. has the greatest capital markets because investors have faith in them, and as more investors access the crypto markets, it is increasingly important to dedicate more resources to protecting them,” said SEC Chair Gary Gensler. “By nearly doubling the size of this key unit, the SEC will be better equipped to police wrongdoing.”
The unit, which has been in existence since 2017, has so far been responsible for over 80 enforcement actions, which the SEC says has resulted in over $2 billion in monetary relief.
The announcement comes approximately eight months after Gensler told lawmakers the SEC needed more staff to deal with the increasingly complex financial technology field. He has previously referred to crypto as “the Wild West,” adding “if we don’t address these issues, I worry a lot of people will be hurt.”
That hawkish tone has surprised some who viewed Gensler as friendly to crypto technology during his nomination.
While crypto trading is still red-hot, market volatility has become even more of a factor since Gensler’s nomination was approved last year. At the time, Bitcoin was valued at nearly $60,000. Today, it stands at just over $38,000.
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