SEC’s enforcement director announces departure 

Gurbir Grewal, who has been at the agency almost as long as Gensler has been chair, will depart on Oct. 11, 2024

article-image

Mark Van Scyoc/Shutterstock modified by Blockworks

share

Gurbir Grewal, who has served as the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s director of the division of enforcement since July 2021, will leave the agency this month. 

The current deputy director of the division, Sanjay Wadhwa, will step in as acting director starting on Oct. 11, the SEC announced Wednesday. 

“From recalibrating penalties and remedies to confronting emerging risks to holding issuers, insiders and gatekeepers accountable, I am incredibly proud of all that we’ve accomplished as a division during my tenure,” Grewal said in a statement. “I am grateful to Chair Gensler not just for the opportunity to lead the division, but also for his unwavering commitment to investor protection and support of a robust enforcement program.”

Read more: SEC crypto enforcement leader departs

Grewal joined the agency just months after SEC Chair Gary Gensler was sworn into his position in April 2021. Cryptocurrency-related enforcement actions, which had been on the rise before Grewal and Gensler took over, were a significant part of Grewal’s tenure. 

Under Grewal’s leadership, the agency issued 35 crypto enforcement actions in 2022 and a total of 40 in 2023. The division of enforcement almost doubled its crypto assets and cyber unit in May 2022, bringing the team’s total to 50. 

As of Sept. 6, 2024 the agency had brought 18 crypto enforcement actions since the start of the year. 

Read more: SEC settlements are becoming the cost of doing crypto business

“Every day, [Grewal] has thought about how to best protect investors and help ensure market participants comply with our time-tested securities laws,” Gensler said in a statement. “He has led a division that has acted without fear or favor, following the facts and the law wherever they may lead. I greatly enjoyed working with him and wish him well.”

Wadhwa started at the SEC in 2003 as a staff attorney in the New York office’s enforcement division. He served as the senior associate director of the New York enforcement division for eight years before he became the deputy director for the entire division. 

A representative from the SEC declined to comment.


Start your day with top crypto insights from David Canellis and Katherine Ross. Subscribe to the Empire newsletter.

Explore the growing intersection between crypto, macroeconomics, policy and finance with Ben Strack, Casey Wagner and Felix Jauvin. Subscribe to the Forward Guidance newsletter.

Get alpha directly in your inbox with the 0xResearch newsletter — market highlights, charts, degen trade ideas, governance updates, and more.

The Lightspeed newsletter is all things Solana, in your inbox, every day. Subscribe to daily Solana news from Jack Kubinec and Jeff Albus.

Tags

Upcoming Events

Javits Center North | 445 11th Ave

Tues - Thurs, March 18 - 20, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

recent research

Research Report Templates (6).png

Research

In recent months, a number of highly accretive developments were implemented across the protocol to improve fee capture, expand product functionality, and ultimately drive value accrual to the RUNE token, with more upgrades on the immediate horizon. These developments include hiking the minimum swap fee parameter to increase revenue, adding a Burn System Income Lever to reduce the RUNE supply, the addition of COSM-WASM smart contracting and IBC to enable an application layer, new chain integrations, and more.

article-image

Permissionless provokes thoughts on the future of crypto as folks engage in pull-up competitions

article-image

Plus, Casey sits with House Majority Whip Tom Emmer to get his views on crypto policy progress

article-image

Blockworks Advisory helps protocols coordinate their launch and growth through white-glove, bespoke services

article-image

The app has just two tabs, one for making swaps and one for viewing your wallet balance