DeFi Hardliner Resigns From SEC Post After Reports Of His Being Friendly With SBF

Dan Berkovitz, general counsel for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), will step down from his position on Jan. 31.

"After thirty-four years of public service, it is time for me to pursue new and different challenges and opportunities," Berkovitz said in a statement issued by the SEC.

Berkovitz left his position as a commissioner at the CFTC and joined the SEC in November 2021.

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Megan Barbero, the SEC's principal deputy general counsel and a former attorney with the Department of Justice, will replace Berkovitz.

Berkovitz previously criticized decentralized finance as "a Hobbesian marketplace" because it lacked intermediaries to safeguard investors. He also reportedly had dinner with disgraced crypto entrepreneur Sam Bankman-Fried in his prior position at the CFTC.

Before Berkovitz joined the SEC, Bankman-Fried reportedly lobbied for Berkovitz, according to the Washington Examiner.

Bankman-Fried is currently facing an eight-count indictment that carries a maximum sentence of 115 years in jail.

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