SEC launches a hiring spree to fight cryptocurrency fraud

By Brian Fung, CNN Business

The Securities and Exchange Commission is vastly expanding its fight against cryptocurrency fraud by hiring more than a dozen new employees to combat cybercrime, the agency said Tuesday.

The additional 20 positions will result in almost a doubling in size of the agency’s Cyber Unit, which is also being renamed the Crypto Assets and Cyber Unit to reflect the group’s growing mission, the SEC said in a release. The Cyber Unit was first founded within the SEC’s enforcement division in 2017.

“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,” SEC Chair Gary Gensler said in a statement.

In addition to policing cryptocurrency exchanges and coin offerings, the SEC will also be monitoring NFTs, decentralized finance platforms and stablecoins, the release said.

The list of open positions will include opportunities for fraud analysts, trial and investigative attorneys and supervisors, the SEC said.

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