SEC nearly doubles crypto unit staff to crack down on abuses in the booming market

cnbc.com:

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced Tuesday that it will almost double its staff responsible for protecting investors in cryptocurrency markets.

The regulator's Crypto Assets and Cyber team, a unit of the SEC's broader Enforcement division, will increase its head count by 20 for a total of 50 dedicated positions.

Wall Street's top law enforcer said that the 20 additions will include investigative staff attorneys, trial lawyers and fraud analysts. Both SEC Chair Gary Gensler and Enforcement Director Gurbir Grewal applauded the hires as overdue and key to regulating one of Wall Street's newest and most popular industries.

The SEC's crypto unit «has successfully brought dozens of cases against those seeking to take advantage of investors in crypto markets,» Gensler said in a statement. «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 with respect to cybersecurity.»

Grewal added that individual retail investors tend to comprise the bulk of victims of crypto-related securities fraud. Cyber threats continue to pose «existential» risks to the U.S. financial system, he added.

«The bolstered Crypto Assets and Cyber Unit will be at the forefront of protecting investors and ensuring fair and orderly markets in the face of these critical challenges,» Grewal said in a statement.

The announcement comes nearly eight months after Gensler lamented to lawmakers that his agency needed more staff to handle the volume of new and complex financial technologies.

Gensler in September told Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., that the regulator could use «a lot more people» to assess and regulate some