SEC crypto enforcement reaches 10-year high under Gary Gensler

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission It brought 46 enforcement actions against crypto companies in 2023, more than double the number of cases in 2021.

According to a report released on January 24 from the litigation consulting firm Cornerstone Research, the number of crypto-related enforcement cases by the SEC in 2023 will be the highest since 2013, indicating that digital assets are a “top priority” for the commission. In the year Among the 46 enforcement actions in 2023, Cornerstone said the SEC imposed $281 million in settlement fines and tripled the number of administrative proceedings from 2022.

“Chairman Gensler said ‘enforcement is a tool, not the destination' and the number of SEC enforcement actions in the crypto space has increased in the past two years,” said Cornerstone's Simona Mola, author of the report.

Cornerstone reported that there were 20 SEC enforcement actions involving litigation or administrative proceedings in 2021 — the year Gary Gensler was confirmed by the U.S. Senate as commission chairman. Under Jenser, the SEC's crackdown on crypto has increased by 50% in 2022 and more than 53% in 2023.

In the year Among the crypto-related enforcement actions from the SEC in 2023 are two cases related to non-volatile tokens (NFTs) and several related to initial coin offerings. Cornerstone reports that about half of the 108 lawsuits filed since 2013 have been settled in court. At the time of publication, lawsuits against major exchanges including Binance, Coinbase, Terraform Labs, Ripple and Kraken were ongoing.

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Gensler has faced criticism from many in the crypto space for taking an “enforcement regulation” approach to digital assets without a clear framework for companies in the United States to follow. Before the SEC took action against Coinbase, the exchange said it contacted commission officials “more than 30 times over nine months” without receiving feedback.

Despite the growing number of enforcement actions, the SEC first approved listings of spot Bitcoin (BTC) stock shares on January 10. Gensler, which issued its ruling on the ETF decision, released a statement the same day saying the commission “has not endorsed or endorsed Bitcoin.”

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