The number of enforcement actions taken by the US SEC in 2022, as reported by Cornerstone Research, increased by 50% from 2021 to 2022.
The SEC Is Putting The Clamps On Crypto Traders
Cornerstone Research suggests that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is already the dominant regulatory watchdog of the US crypto sector, notwithstanding the ongoing discussion between the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the SEC on this issue.
Thirty enforcement actions were taken by the SEC last year, with a total of 79 defendants and respondents, as stated in a report titled “SEC Cryptocurrency Enforcement: 2022 Update,” published on January 18.
According to the study, in 2022, the feared regulatory watchdog doubled the number of actions it took from 20 to 30 by filing 24 lawsuits in federal courts in the United States and six administrative proceedings.
In addition, the study found that claims of fraud and unregistered securities offers constituted a sizable portion of the agency’s enforcement activities.
A quote from the report goes like this:
SEC has filed 82 lawsuits and 45 administrative processes connected to cryptocurrencies since the first action was taken in July 2013. The SEC has filed a number of subpoenas and followed them up with administrative proceedings after issuing 20 trading suspension orders under Section 12(k) of the Exchange Act and 12 delinquent filing orders under Section 12(j) of the Exchange Act.
The linked story is that in 2022, scams and rug pulls cost the worldwide crypto business close to $3.5 billion. The recent failure of Sam Bankman-FTX Fried’s exchange has prompted regulators in many places to step up their scrutiny of the financial trading sector. More stringent measures are likely to be implemented this year.
