On Tuesday, Hester Peirce, a member of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), expressed her strong opposition to the addition of 20 officials on Twitter. The same day earlier, the SEC said in a press release that it would add 20 members to its crypto squadron called the Crypto Assets and Cyber Unit, which was previously known as the Cyber Unit.
The unit will comprise 50 officials (currently 30) to protect investors in crypto markets and from cyber threats, as per the SEC.
Gary Gensler, Chairman of the SEC, had complained about firms like Coinbase, which failed to register before it started offering “security-like tokens.” The Chairman had hinted about these new hirings back in September 2021 when he said that the new upcoming responsibility would require “a lot more people” at the SEC. Â
Tom Emmer, a Republican representative from Minnesota and the Chairman of the Congressional Blockchain Caucus, has been on record for criticizing the “overregulation” of crypto and other digital assets. He agreed to Pierces’ statements on Twitter. The special unit has taken more than eighty law enforcement actions against offenders in the crypto space, where the relief amounted to more than $2 billion.