SEC Chairman requests additional $72 million budget to protect investors from high-risk crypto industry and other impacts.

According to BlockBeats news on July 20th reported by CoinDesk, Gary Gensler, the Chairman of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), proposed to provide an additional budget of 72 million US dollars for the SEC at the US Senate Appropriations Committee. He stated that the SEC must expand its size, including protecting investors from the impact of "illegal activities" in the cryptocurrency industry. He said in his speech, "We have seen the 'Wild West' of the cryptocurrency market, filled with illegal activities, and investors are putting their hard-earned assets at risk in highly speculative asset categories." In 2023, the SEC employed 4,685 staff, with about half focusing on law enforcement inspections. Applying for additional budget funds will not only provide funding for the staff hired in 2023 for the whole year, but also help the SEC add about 170 positions to its team, or increase the total number of full-time employees at the SEC to 5,139.