Chairman of the US SEC Gary Gensler He described crypto markets as the “Wild West” on Wednesday and called for more employees to enforce the infant industry, which he says is plagued with non-compliance.
Speaking at a hearing before the Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government, Gensler highlighted the rapid growth and change in markets, with more people than ever engaging in commerce and using tools and technologies not previously available.
He warned that such growth and change also means a greater possibility of wrongdoing and that the SEC must be adequately resourced to take on bad actors.
Gensler said the Examinations and Compliance Division represents about half of the SEC's staff, and that the Division received more than 35,000 separate tips, complaints and referrals from whistleblowers and others in 2022.
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The Division initiated more than 750 enforcement actions last year, resulting in $6.4 billion in fines and takeback orders.
The SEC chairman said that rapid technological innovation has led to misconduct in the crypto space and that addressing this requires new tools, expertise and resources.
Rep. brand pocan (D-Wisconsin.) asked Gensler if the SEC currently has adequate resources to investigate emerging cryptocurrency issues, to which Gensler responded: "We're on the edge, sir. This is a field that has a significant amount of breach. We've increased our resources there, but we could always use more."
With this in mind, Gensler called for increased funding for the SEC in the 2024 budget request, which would support an additional 170 positions and full-year funding for staff hired in 2023.
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