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The US SEC has announced the formation of a new group to combat crypto fraud and other cyber crimes to protect retail investors.
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The US Securities and Exchange Commission announced on Feb. 20 the formation of a new group to combat cyber misconduct, including fraud involving blockchain and crypto assets.
According to a press release, the new group, called the “Cyber and Emerging Technologies Unit,” will focus on protecting retail investors from bad actors in the emerging technologies space.
The Cyber and Emerging Technologies Unit (CETU) will consist of around 30 fraud specialists and attorneys across multiple SEC offices and replace the SEC’s “Crypto Assets and Cyber Unit,” which was in charge of bringing enforcement actions against or related to fraudulent and unregistered crypto asset offerings and platforms.
Laura D’Allaird, an attorney based in Washington, DC, who has helmed the SEC’s Crypto Assets and Cyber Unit, will lead CETU. According to her LinkedIn profile, she previously served as counsel to SEC Commissioner Jaime Lizárraga, a member of the Democratic Party.
“The unit will not only protect investors but will also facilitate capital formation and market efficiency by clearing the way for innovation to grow,” acting SEC Chair Mark Uyeda said in a statement. “It will root out those seeking to misuse innovation to harm investors and diminish confidence in new technologies.”
Related: FBI reports saving victims $285M from crypto scams
The new group will use its experience to combat misconduct as it relates to “securities transactions” in areas such as fraud committed with emerging technologies, the use of social media and false websites to perpetuate fraud, and specifically, “fraud involving blockchain technology and crypto assets.”
Crypto rocked by allegations of insider trading with memecoins
Although allegations of insider trading in crypto have been part of the general discourse for years, the discussion has reached a fever pitch since Feb. 14 amid the fallout from the LIBRA memecoin.
That memecoin, which involved promotion from Argentine President Javier Milei, became synonymous with a space that is stacked against retail investors who suffer from not having the advantages of inside information. The rug pull, which netted the team behind the token over $100 million, cost investors over $251 million after the token was pumped and then dumped.
Related: LIBRA creators tied to Melania and other short-lived memecoins: Bubblemaps
Jupiter, a decentralized exchange on Solana where the rug pull happened, said that the launch of a Milei-endorsed memecoin was an open secret in memecoin circles. Jupiter has begun a probe, and a Meteora co-founder has resigned as a result of the fallout.
Due to the collapse of LIBRA, some, including The Coin Bureau co-founder and CEO Nic Puckrin, have blamed regulators for the lack of clarity surrounding these assets.
“The blame for the Libra memecoin disaster and other pump-and-dump schemes like it lies on the shoulders of the regulators, and they are the only ones that can fix this,” Puckrin said in a statement to Cointelegraph.
Magazine: 5 real use cases for useless memecoins
This article first appeared at Cointelegraph.com News
