Gary Gensler, Chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), made the calls in the 2024 budget request addressing abuse in the crypto space.
In testimony prepared for the Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee’s July 19 hearing with the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee, Gensler said that he supports the Biden administration’s request to allocate more than $2.4 billion to the SEC for fiscal 2024. The head of the SEC highlighted some segments of the crypto market as one of the reasons for the budgetary demand.
Expertise called for new tools and resources
Along with the funding, Gensler said it expects the SEC to increase the number of full-time positions from 4,685 in 2023 to 5,139 in 2024. According to SEC data, the commission’s enforcement division has filed more than 750 enforcement cases in 2022, despite several abuses occurring in the crypto industry.
In response to questions asked by Illinois Senator Dick Durbin, Gensler said, “Our officials in the SEC are pretty solid. We can always use a little more resources. If this committee sees fit and wants us to have more resources, we can use them.” said
The SEC chairman said he hopes to receive an additional $70 million in funding from an agreed budget to add 170 more. Additionally, he faced questioning from lawmakers about the SEC’s role in overseeing the bankrupt crypto exchange FTX.
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