SEC will Appoint More Crypto Police to Fight Digital Fraud

The Securities and Exchange Commission will expand the scale of its special unit dedicated to investigating cryptocurrency fraud and other fraudulent activities. This is a move following the authorities' aggressive push to put unregulated industries under federal scrutiny.

The SEC said it plans to add 20 investigators and litigants to crypto-assets and cyber units established in September 2017 when regulators noticed a surge in new digital coins for sale to the public.

The Commission has established itself as the chief government bulwark against fraud in the $1.7 trillion markets, which has so far bypassed most federal consumer and investor protection rules.

The SEC has solved most of the cryptocurrency investigations so far but is at odds with Ripple Labs Inc. and two of its executives over the sale of the well-known digital coin XRP.

With the addition of 20 enforcers, the SEC's dedicated cryptocurrency entity will have 50 lawyers and other personnel. It will also get a new leader. According to an SEC spokesperson, Kristina Littman, the current head of the unit, has announced internally that she will leave the agency in June.