SEC creates Cyber & Emerging Tech unit

The Securities and Exchange Commission created a Cyber and Emerging Technologies Unit on February 20, 2025, to pursue fraud tied to artificial intelligence, blockchain and cyber intrusions. (sec.gov) The new group, called the Cyber and Emerging Technologies Unit, sits inside the Enforcement Division and is led by Laura D’Allaird. The agency said it has about 30 fraud specialists and attorneys across multiple SEC offices. (sec.gov) The unit replaced the older Crypto Assets and Cyber Unit and widened its brief beyond digital tokens. The Securities and Exchange Commission listed seven target areas, including fraud using artificial intelligence and machine learning, blockchain and crypto fraud, hacked brokerage accounts, false websites, dark-web schemes, cybersecurity compliance failures and misleading public-company cyber disclosures. (sec.gov) A blockchain is a shared digital ledger, like a transaction log copied across many computers, and the agency said the new unit will police securities fraud that uses that technology. Artificial intelligence tools can generate fake pitches, fake trading signals and fake identities at scale, and the Securities and Exchange Commission put those tactics on the same enforcement list. (sec.gov) The launch landed during a broader shift in Washington’s crypto policy. On January 21, 2025, Acting Chair Mark Uyeda announced a separate Crypto Task Force led by Commissioner Hester Peirce to work on a regulatory framework for crypto assets. (harvard.edu) Uyeda said the enforcement unit would “complement” that Crypto Task Force rather than duplicate it. In the same February 20, 2025 announcement, he said the unit would protect investors and “clear the way for innovation to grow.” (sec.gov) By April 2026, the agency was still describing the unit as part of its current enforcement program. In its fiscal 2025 enforcement-results release on April 8, 2026, the Securities and Exchange Commission said the unit was launched to combat misconduct involving blockchain technology, artificial intelligence, account takeovers and cybersecurity. (sec.gov) The unit is no longer just a press-release concept. In a litigation release published in February 2026, the Securities and Exchange Commission said a case involving ad-tech executive Anil Mathews and others was investigated under the supervision of Laura D’Allaird and Diana Tani in the Cyber and Emerging Technologies Unit. (sec.gov) That leaves the agency with a two-track approach: one team writing and discussing crypto policy, another bringing fraud cases involving new technology. The Securities and Exchange Commission’s public pages now list the Cyber and Emerging Technologies Unit alongside sample actions involving crypto assets, account intrusions, hacking, fake websites and market manipulation. (sec.gov) The immediate change is not a new rule for investors or issuers. It is a standing enforcement team with named leadership, a defined case list and a mandate the Securities and Exchange Commission is still citing more than a year after its launch. (sec.gov)