SEC Wants More Funds to Investigate Crypto Companies – Get Ready for the Wild West!

• The head of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Gary Gensler, is requesting more funding from Congress so that he and his fellow agents can continue their investigations into the crypto industry.
• The SEC has already brought 750 unique actions against crypto companies in 2022, leading to $6.5 million in penalty fees.
• Gensler believes that if the SEC does not receive additional funds to hire more employees, it will be unable to investigate all of the bad actors present in the growing digital currency industry.

The SEC Investigating Crypto Companies

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is continuing its investigations into the crypto arena, as requested by its head Gary Gensler. Last year, the Division of Enforcement and Examinations made over 35,000 separate tips and referrals from whistleblowers. This led to 750 unique actions against crypto companies with a total of $6.5 million in penalty fees implemented by the agency last year alone.

Gensler Requests More Funding

In order for Gensler and his team to stay on top of all of these cases, he has asked Congress for additional funding so that he can hire 170 new employees for full-year positions beginning 2024. Without this increase in staff and resources, Gensler claims that it will be impossible for them to investigate every single company operating within this space effectively due to its rapid growth rate and lack of compliance with existing financial regulations and securities laws.

Crypto Scene Described as “Wild West”

Gensler described the crypto scene as a “Wild West” where many participants are at risk because some enterprises do not follow current rules or laws pertaining to finance or security protocols. Despite The SEC’s efforts thus far, they are still stretched thin when it comes to monitoring suspicious activity associated with digital currency firms – making even more manpower necessary going forward..

Congress Asked To Grant Additional Funds

In response to questions about whether or not there was sufficient research being conducted by The SEC on these issues surrounding digital currencies, Gensler stated: “We’re stretched thin sir… We could always use more [funding].” He then went on to ask Congress for additional funds so that they may fill new positions within their Division of Enforcement & Examinations going forward if they want remain compliant with investigating any suspicious activity taking place within cryptocurrency businesses moving further into 2023..

Conclusion

Gary Gensler is requesting Congress grant him additional funds so that he may hire 170 new full-time employees by 2024 who can help monitor cryptocurrency businesses moving forward given how rapidly this space is growing – making it difficult for The SEC alone without extra help keeping up with all non-compliant actors present today