Former U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission official John Reed believes that the SEC’s crypto enforcement is essentially over with the new administration.
“Stick a fork in SEC crypto-enforcement, it’s done,” he said on social media.
The agency is no longer prioritizing cryptocurrency-specific enforcement after renaming the “Crypto Assets and Cyber Unit” to Cyber to “Cyber Emerging Technologies Unit” earlier this year.
Laura D’Allaird, the newly appointed chief of the SEC’s Cyber and Emerging Technologies Unit, recently spoke about the changes in the agency’s approach.
D’Allaird has specified that the SEC has put its priorities into three buckets. It is focused on rooting out fraud across various emerging technologies like the misuse of AI, blockchain, and crypto.
“The first bucket is […] a focus on fraud across the emerging technologies space. So there we’re really looking at, you know, weeding out bad actors who are misusing innovative technology or excitement around innovative technology to harm investors. And so that includes fraud related to […] blockchain and crypto,” she said.
The unit is also meant to ensure cybersecurity compliance and root out cyber-related misconduct, such as the use of the dark web, social engineering, and so on.
D’Allaird has stressed that the SEC needs to be “nimble,” keeping pace with innovation.
She has stressed that the SEC is focused on protecting investors and facilitating capital formation by weeding out bad actors.
“We see two buckets: those actually using emerging tech to commit fraud, and those wrapping old fraud in new tech language—what I call ‘old wine in a new bottle,” she said.
As reported by U.Today, the SEC has dropped high-profile cases against such companies as Coinbase, Ripple, and other companies. Meanwhile, Jorge Tenreiro, the SEC’s top litigator, was demoted.
