SEC has brought 75 cryptocurrency enforcement actions: Report

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has brought 75 enforcement actions and 19 trading suspension orders against cryptocurrency participants between its first in July 2013 and the end of 2020, says a report issued Tuesday.

“In the last seven years or so, the SEC has established itself as one of the main regulators policing the cryptocurrency space,” and has settled more than 70% of its enforcement actions for more than $1.77 billion in penalties, said Simona Mola, author of the report issued by San Francisco-based Cornerstone Research Inc. and a Cornerstone senior manager, in a statement.

Some observers believe that cryptocurrency’s anonymity has helped fuel the increase in ransomware.

Of the 75 enforcement actions, 43 were litigated in U.S. district courts and 32 resolved as administrative proceedings within the SEC, according to the report. Eighty-one percent of the litigated cases involved an allegedly fraudulent scheme, the report said.

Abe Chernin,  a Cornerstone Research vice president and head of the company’s consumer finance practice, said in a statement, “While the SEC will continue to focus on fraud, there is an increasing expectation that the new administration develop a clearer regulatory approach and pursue greater interagency coordination to foster innovation in cryptocurrency markets.”