On July 20, Gary Gensler, Chair of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, requested in the regulator's 2024 budget request additional support to address misconduct in the crypto space. Gensler seeks to increase the number of full-time positions at the SEC from 4,685 in 2023 to 5,139 in 2024 to handle the enforcement actions needed to address growing cases of misconduct stemming from rapid technological innovation in the crypto space.
According to a BTC News, SEC Chair Gary Gensler has called for "new tools, expertise, and resources" in the regulator's budget request for 2024 focused on combating wrongdoing in the cryptocurrency space. Gensler aims to increase the number of full-time positions at the SEC from 4,685 in 2023 to 5,139 in 2024 to address the growing number of misconduct cases stemming from rapid technological innovation in crypto. SEC data shows more than 750 enforcement cases for 2022.
Gensler wants $70 million in additional funding in an agreed-upon budget to hire 170 additional agents, some of whom would concentrate on enforcement.
“Our authorities at the SEC are quite robust — we could always use some more resources,” said Gensler in response to questions raised by Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, according to BTC News. “If this committee were to see fit and want us to have more resources, we could use them.”
Some US lawmakers have proposed that the SEC chair should consider a legislative rather than enforcement approach to crypto and Gensler also faced questions on the SEC’s role in addressing bankrupt crypto exchange FTX.
A federal judge in the SEC v. Ripple case recently declared that XRP (XRP) was not necessarily a security and Gensler said that that the commission would be reviewing the issue.
