SEC Dangles $50K Exit Pay As Crypto Enforcement Team Shrinks

The United States’ regulatory body that governs cryptocurrencies is cutting down its workforce, so it asked its employees to resign or take an early retirement in exchange for a $50,000 pay. 

Analysts said that the ongoing downsizing of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) could be part of the Trump administration and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) plan of trimming the government workforce to slash spending.

Reports said that the SEC became the latest fatality in the government-wide campaign of US President Donald Trump to reduce the budget allocated for the operations of federal agencies. 

Bloomberg revealed that the state-run agency that regulates digital assets in the US is now undergoing a crypto scaledown after the news agency reported that the SEC offered its long-term employees a payout in exchange for their resignation or early retirement from the regulatory body.

The impending mass layoff in the SEC could be among the efforts undertaken by the Elon Musk-led government efficiency department to execute the promise of Trump to slash government spending by $2 trillion.

BREAKING: The SEC is offering employees a $50,000 incentive to resign or retire by April 4th, per Bloomberg. pic.twitter.com/jx0aJD3u4x

— The Kobeissi Letter (@KobeissiLetter) March 3, 2025

“We’ll aim for $2 trillion, which I believe is the best-case scenario. But you need to allow for some margin. If we target $2 trillion, I think there’s a strong chance we can achieve $1 trillion in spending cuts,” Musk said in an interview in January this year.

According to an internal memo obtained by Bloomberg, the US financial regulator is willing to shell out a $50,000 incentive to each employee who will accept what is termed as the “voluntary early retirement” program. 

Reports said that SEC Chief Operating Officer Ken Johnson explained that the early retirement scheme can be availed by permanent employees of the regulatory body who were on its payroll before January 24, 2025. 

The document cited that the financial regulator is only making eligible government workers to decide and accept the offer by March 21, 2025, adding that they will be voluntarily retired from the agency starting April 4, 2025.

The internal memo noted that the early retirement scheme allows qualified employees to choose from resigning, transferring to another agency, or retiring.

However, the document warned that employees who availed of the so-called “voluntary separation incentive” would be compelled to return the payout in full once they decided to return to the SEC within five years.

Reports also revealed that the internal memo urged SEC to consider leaving Washington and transferring to an area described as “less costly parts of the country,” citing that this is part of the government’s effort to save money. 

SEC explained that the cost of the payout would be offset by the reduction of expenses associated with maintaining a large workforce.

DOGE claimed that it has already reduced the federal government workforce by over 100,000 workers through layoffs and buyouts.

Featured image from Getty Images, chart from TradingView