David Hirsch, head of the US SEC’s Crypto Assets and Cybercrimes Division, said the agency will increase prosecution of crypto companies and decentralized finance (DeFi) projects.

At a forum in Chicago on compliance with securities laws, David Hirsch said that the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) does not intend to stop pursuing cryptocurrency exchanges that violate these laws. Despite the fact that the department is currently conducting legal proceedings with large trading platforms Coinbase and Binance, the SEC manages to investigate the activities of many other cryptocurrency companies. As Hirsch puts it, “Securities laws are being violated far beyond these two crypto exchanges.”

“The SEC’s interest in cryptocurrencies is not limited to large exchanges. We will strengthen supervision over intermediaries. These may be brokers, dealers, exchangers, clearing agencies or any other cryptocurrency entities that are in our jurisdiction and are not fulfilling their obligations. They must be registered and provide complete information to users,” Hirsch said.

An SEC official noted that DeFi projects will also not escape the attention of law enforcement agencies. The agency will continue to investigate, and adding a DeFi “label” will not protect crypto projects from the courts.

Hirsch acknowledged that the SEC has a limited enforcement budget, much smaller than the financial giants it is accustomed to dealing with. Given the large number of litigations involving the SEC, the regulator’s options are limited. In July, SEC Chairman Gary Gensler asked lawmakers to increase the budget for protecting cryptocurrency investors, believing that $2.4 billion may not be enough to combat the industry.

Hirsch’s statements run counter to a recent speech by SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce, who tried to persuade cryptocurrency companies not to leave the United States in the hope that confusion over the regulation of the industry will pass.