SEC Crypto Fines Hits Record High of $4.68B in 2024: Report

This year has been a rollercoaster of regulatory crackdown for the United States crypto ecosystem. A recent study shows that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has imposed a $4.68 billion fine on 11 crypto entities, the highest ever recorded in a year.

This year’s figure brings the total fines the SEC has levied on crypto firms and individuals to over $7.42 billion.

Terraform Labs Slammed With Highest Fine

The study revealed that Terraform Labs led this year’s record with nearly $4.5 billion in June. Notably, the Singapore-based blockchain project and its co-founder, Do Kwon, received the highest-ever fine the SEC has issued since 2013.

The penalty follows the project’s dramatic crash in May 2022. Terraform Labs’ UST stablecoin lost its peg to the U.S. dollar and other affiliated tokens significantly dropped in value. The fall caused a $45 billion exit from the crypto market capitalization, severely impacting various crypto firms and investors.

Before Terraform Labs’ penalty, the social media platform Telegram received the largest fine in 2019, worth over $1.24 billion. The SEC penalized the social app for unlawfully selling TON digital tokens through an initial coin offering (ICO). Despite the regulatory crackdown, Telegram has exposed some of its revenue to crypto.

This year’s record is significantly higher than the previous two years’ records, which were $308.9 million and $150.26 million in 2022 and 2023, respectively. Additionally, this year’s fines represented a 63% increase from the total as of last year.

And the Year Isn’t Over

The SEC’s fines underscore its efforts to curb financial violations. Despite the latest record, the regulatory watchdog will likely impose more financial penalties on crypto entities before the year ends.

For example, a court recently ruled that the blockchain payment company Ripple pay a civil penalty of $125 million to settle a years-long lawsuit against the SEC. The lawsuit was based on the financial agency’s claim that Ripple sold unregistered securities to U.S.-based investors.