The SEC Puts its Eyes on Centralized Exchanges and DeFi Projects

In addition to Binance and Coinbase, other centralized exchanges (CEX) and decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols are also under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), as disclosed by the head of the agency’s enforcement department, David Hirsch, in an interview with CoinDesk.

According to Hirsch, regulatory offenses in the cryptocurrency industry are not limited to just these two organizations.

“Our enforcement actions will continue. This could include brokers, dealers, exchanges, clearing agencies, or any other entities operating in this space. If they are within our jurisdiction and fail to comply with their obligations, whether that’s failure to register or failure to provide accurate and complete information,” he warned.

Hirsch also noted that even DeFi projects that claim to be decentralized could still face claims from the SEC.

The head of the enforcement department expressed concerns about the heavy workload of the agency, which has hindered the initiation of new cases. He also mentioned the limited funding of the SEC.

“There are more tokens…than the SEC or any other agency has the resources to monitor. Additionally, there are numerous centralized platforms, some of which may be operating as unregistered exchanges,” he explained.