Gary Gensler – the head of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) – is asking Congress to grant the agency even more funding so he and his fellow agents can continue their investigations into the crypto arena.
Gary Gensler and the SEC Want More Money
In a recent conference, Gensler described the crypto scene as the “Wild West” (how original – nobody’s ever used that term before) and asked that he be given the funds to hire more employees so that they can examine more digital currency firms, which he described as “rife” with non-compliance.
The conference occurred before the Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government. Gensler discussed the ongoing changes and rapid growth of certain markets, a big one being digital currency. He said there are more people participating in the space than ever before. This puts them all at risk given how many of the enterprises allegedly don’t follow present financial rules and securities laws.
Right now, according to the SEC head, the Division of Enforcement and Examinations makes up roughly half of the agency’s staff. As it stands, the Division garnered more than 35,000 separate tips, referrals, and complaints from whistleblowers in 2022 alone.
Gensler has no doubt this will get worse over time if the SEC is not permitted to do all it can in the coming months and weeks to prevent further bad actors from having a hand in the growing digital currency industry. He said the Division brought more than 750 unique actions against crypto companies last year, but that this was not enough to get everyone that needed to be investigated. Overall, these actions led to nearly $6.5 million in penalty fees.
When asked by Wisconsin Democrat Rep. Mark Pocan if the SEC has adequate research to investigate the present crypto issues making their way to the top of the SEC’s priorities list, Gensler answered:
We’re stretched thin, sir. This is a field that has [a] significant amount of non-compliance in it. We’ve increased our resources there, but we could always use more.
The funding that Gensler is now suggesting would arrive as early as 2024 and permit the agency to fill another 170 separate positions. It would also grant full-year funding to all the people hired by the agency in 2023.
Going After Every Company
The SEC has developed a big goal to go after and persecute practically every single digital currency company in the last few weeks. For example, leading US digital currency exchange Coinbase has recently received a Wells notice from the SEC, suggesting the company could face legal action relatively soon.
The agency has also gone after Kraken, another Northern California-based digital trading platform. The enterprise was forced to part with a $30 million penalty fee and end all its staking services and activities.
