The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has replaced its Crypto Assets and Cyber Unit (CACU) with a new task force, amid heightened government and public focus on cryptocurrency.
In place of the CACU, the SEC has created the Cyber and Emerging Technologies Unit (CETU), which will be headed up by Laura D’Allaird, who had previously been working as the Co-Chief of the former crypto assets unit.
The new unit has been assigned a number of tasks. Its remit will cover investigation of fraud committed using emerging technologies, such as AI and machine learning. This task will likely see a coordinated effort against deepfakes, AI-backed image and audio clones which can be used to replicate documents, people and voices.
It will also examine the use of social media, the dark web and false websites to carry out fraud, attempts and cases of hacking to obtain material non-public information and takeover of retail brokerage accounts and regulated companies’ compliance with cybersecurity regulations.
The dark web investigations will likely have a significant bearing on cryptocurrency, as crypto is often used to make transactions for materials, both illicit and non-illicit, on dark web platforms. Other crypto investigations will target fraud involving blockchain technology and cryptoassets.
SEC Acting Chairman, Mark T Uyeda, remarked: “Under Laura’s leadership, this new unit will complement the work of the Crypto Task Force led by Commissioner Hester Peirce. Importantly, the new unit will also allow the SEC to deploy enforcement resources judiciously.
“The unit will not only protect investors but will also facilitate capital formation and market efficiency by clearing the way for innovation to grow. It will root out those seeking to misuse innovation to harm investors and diminish confidence in new technologies.”
The creation of the new unit comes amid heightened interest in the crypto sectors among the general public, with crypto ownership at an all-time high in the US and various other markets.
The sector also enjoyed significant growth last year with soaring valuations, though the market has seen some volatility – hardly a rarity in crypto – in the early months of 2025.
Donald Trump, the new US President, is vocally pro-crypto and is evaluating how to formulate a new regulatory framework around the sector.
Though the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is the regulator which will likely play the biggest role in crypto regulation in the US moving forward, it is clear the SEC and its Acting Chairman, appointed by Trump, envision the markets watchdog as still having a role to play.
Additionally, the new unit’s cybercrime focus is also interesting, coming amid heightened regulatory interest in this area globally. Numerous cases of hacking have impacted the payments sector in recent years.
For example, in Europe, accounts of Ticketmaster and Santander were hacked last summer in a widely publicised case. IT security has become a focal point for EU regulators, with the trade bloc introducing new rules though the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA).
