SEC To Open New Office To Scrutinize Crypto Disclosures

In an attempt to bring increased regulatory clarity into the crypto industry, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) division of corporate finance is creating a new office to scrutinize public disclosures of crypto companies.

The new office will come under SEC's Division of Corporation Finance, The Block reported, citing Cicely LaMothe, associate director for disclosure operations at the division.

At a conference in Washington on Thursday, LaMothe pointed out that the new office is indeed crucial to address "unique and evolving" filings coming from crypto companies that deal with a variety of crypto assets.

Interestingly, this implies that a majority of cryptocurrencies will come under the jurisdiction of the SEC, and as pointed out by Chair Gary Gensler in a previous interview, most crypto assets are considered securities. The SEC chair added Bitcoin is the only cryptocurrency that is considered a commodity.

"Some, like Bitcoin, and that's the only one, Jim, I'm going to say because I'm not going to talk about any one of these tokens, my predecessors and others have said, they're a commodity," Gensler said in response to a question from CNBC's Jim Cramer in June.

However, this SEC stand has received pushback from the crypto community and has resulted in some unhappy faces.

LaMothe confirmed that there will be legal and accounting branches for crypto firms that aim to file public disclosures. It would then become easier for such firms to consult with officials regarding public filings.