Gary Gensler, the chairman of the US Security and Exchange Commission (SEC), and also the bogeyman of the crypto industry, wants more funding for his fight against the crypto sector. He said this on March 29 in his speech to the House Appropriations Committee.
SEC wants more money for crypto
According to Gensler, the SEC needs an additional $2.4 billion to keep up with the rapid development in the crypto sector.
“Rapid technological development in financial markets has led to misconduct in new and existing industries, and especially in the crypto sector. Addressing this requires new resources and expertise.
Gensler said in his testimony. The cash injection will allow the SEC to create 170 new jobs, according to Gensler. Most of these would be active in the enforcement and oversight departments. Last year, the SEC’s budget increased for the first time since 2016, but Gensler’s say it’s still not enough.
“We must confront the rogue parties. Therefore, it makes sense for the SEC to grow with the expansion and growing complexity of financial markets.”
Gensler also compares the crypto sector to the Wild West; a place where “crypto investors risk their well-earned assets in highly speculative assets.”
SEC is stepping up the pressure
Since the beginning of this year, the SEC’s attitude towards the crypto sector has become a lot more aggressive. Several platforms have already been targeted by the financial watchdog. For example, the crypto exchange Kraken was forced to stop offering staking services in the United States and paid a $30 million fine.
Binance also stopped issuing new BUSD stablecoins. According to the SEC, these would qualify as an unregistered product. Last week it was Justin Sun’s Tron (TRX) turn. This also concerned alleged unregistered securities.
Should the SEC hear back, and receive the additional funding, the crypto sector will not be rid of the SEC and Gensler for a while.