The "Office of Crypto Assets" and the "Office of Industrial Applications and Services" will join seven existing offices under the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) department which handles corporate disclosure filings.
(Sign up to our Technology newsletter, Today’s Cache, for insights on emerging themes at the intersection of technology, business and policy. Click here to subscribe for free.)
"As a result of recent growth in the crypto asset and the life sciences industries, we saw a need to provide greater and more specialized support," Renee Jones, director of the Division of Corporation Finance, said in a statement.
Cryptocurrencies and other digital assets have soared in popularity over recent years and are getting increasingly intertwined with the regulated financial system, saddling policymakers with monitoring risks in a largely unregulated sector.
2022 has seen a sharp drop in crypto demand though, as global risk sentiment was walloped by the Ukraine crisis, aggressive monetary policy tightening and decades-high inflation.
Allegations of money laundering against some crypto firms as well as consumer data violations in the United States, the biggest market for digital assets, have also affected demand.
