136
According to the Bangkok post, crypto firms are ramping up hiring in their compliance departments as they come under increasing regulatory scrutiny in the U.S. and worldwide. Hamlyn Williams Inc., a global recruiter that focuses on regulated industries, said it had conducted 18 chief-compliance-officer searches for financial technology and cryptocurrency businesses in 2021, up from seven searches for all of 2020.
The regulatory pressures are mounting for cryptocurrency businesses.
The regulatory pressures are mounting for businesses that create, host, and trade digital currencies. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler said that he doesn’t see much long-term viability for cryptocurrencies, underscoring his importance on protecting investors and bringing the market under regulatory oversight. SEC chair Gensler repeatedly has likened the crypto market to the Wild West. He has urged crypto trading and lending platforms to register with the SEC, saying they likely are offering unregistered securities in violation of federal law. Regulators everywhere are keeping an eye on the crypto industry.
Several formal regulators have joined crypto firms.
Former regulators have joined crypto companies in recent years, including ex-SEC Chairman Jay Clayton and Jaikumar Ramaswamy, previously a Justice Department official in charge of asset forfeiture and money laundering. The cryptocurrency unit of popular trading platform Robinhood Markets Inc. and BINANCE Holdings Ltd., a large cryptocurrency exchange, have both beefed up their compliance staffing in recent months. Binance said this summer that it was expanding its international compliance team, a move that came as authorities in the U.K. and Japan said the business isn’t registered to operate in those countries. Meanwhile, last week, China reinforced its tough stance against the sector by declaring cryptocurrency transactions illegal.
