SEC’s Legal Actions Against Crypto Firms Surge by 50%

In 2023, the number of enforcement actions by the SEC against cryptocurrency companies rose to a record 46.

In comparison, during the previous reporting period, the Commission filed only 30 lawsuits, nearly 50% less.

“Compared to 2022, the number of court cases increased slightly, while the number of administrative proceedings more than tripled,” the report states.

61% of the cases involved violations of securities provisions, while fraud was cited in 57% of them.

By the end of 2023, the SEC had imposed fines totaling $2.89 billion on market participants. In the previous period, company payments amounted to just over $281 million.

Since 2013, the agency has undertaken a total of 173 enforcement actions against cryptocurrency organizations.

Last year, the regulator filed lawsuits against exchanges Binance and Coinbase, accusing them of illegal securities sales, sanctions violations, and facilitating money laundering.

In August, the SEC accused Impact Theory of unregistered offerings of investment contracts in the form of non-fungible tokens. The firm agreed to pay $6.1 million in fines and interest and to destroy all tokens under its control.

Back in December, SEC Chairman Gary Gensler criticized the crypto industry for failing to comply with regulatory requirements.

However, in January 2024, the agency approved all 11 applications for spot Bitcoin ETFs.