SEC Pushes For Crypto Regulation And Is Setting Up Two New Offices
- The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has confirmed via a statement that it will establish two new offices that will be centered on reviewing issuer filings.
- The two new offices — an Office of Crypto Assets and an Office of Industrial Applications and Services — have been announced under the Division of Corporation Finance’s Disclosure Review Program (DRP).
The crypto sector remains largely unregulated in the United States, and for that reason, there have been countless cases of crypto-related scams being prevalent in the country, and as a result, investors no longer feel safe while investing in the asset class. As a result, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has confirmed via a statement that it will establish two new offices that will be centered on reviewing issuer filings.
The two new offices — an Office of Crypto Assets and an Office of Industrial Applications and Services — have been announced under the Division of Corporation Finance’s Disclosure Review Program (DRP) and as per the SEC, they “will join the seven existing offices that provide focused review of issuer filings and that are grouped by industry expertise to further the Division’s work to promote capital formation and protect investors.”
“As a result of recent growth in the crypto asset and the life sciences industries, we saw a need to provide greater and more specialized support in the DRP’s Office of Finance and its Office of Life Sciences,”
said Renee Jones, Director of the Division of Corporation Finance.
The Office of Crypto Assets has been eshtablished to review filings involving crypto assets and as per the regulatory authority, “assigning companies and filings to one office will enable the DRP to better focus its resources and expertise to address the unique and evolving filing review issues related to crypto assets.”
Next, the Office of Industrial Applications and Services will be responsible for dealing with “non-pharma, non-biotech, and non-medicinal products companies currently assigned to the Office of Life Sciences.”
“The creation of these new offices will enable the DRP to enhance its focus in the areas of crypto assets, financial institutions, life sciences, and industrial applications and services and facilitate our ability to meet our mission,”
Jones further added.
However, this comes at a time when the SEC Chair Gary Gensler stated at an event on Thursday that he backs Congress if they give the CFTC the power to regulate the major cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH). However, he is still convinced that most of the 10,000 cryptocurrencies that are currently circulating in the crypto space belong to the securities category. The Chair said that it is crucial to note that most of the cryptocurrencies are bought and sold in hopes of increased returns and hence can be regulated as securities.
A crypto journalist with over 3 years of experience in DeFi, NFT, metaverse, etc. Parth has worked with major media outlets in the crypto and finance world and has gained experience and expertise in crypto culture after surviving bear and bull markets over the years.
