The US Securities and Exchange Commission stated on Tuesday that some of its previous enforcement actions against cryptocurrency companies lacked clear benefit to investors and reflected a misreading of federal securities laws. The agency said that since fiscal year 2022, it had brought 95 actions and collected $2.3 billion in penalties for book-and-record violations. Officials described this pattern as a bias toward case volume rather than genuine investor protection, as well as a misallocation of agency resources.
The statement represents the latest signal of a broader policy shift at the regulator since Paul Atkins assumed the role of SEC Chair in April 2025. His predecessor, Gary Gensler, faced criticism for pursuing what many in the industry characterized as a regulation-by-enforcement approach to digital assets. Since Gensler’s departure, the agency has adopted a notably more accommodating posture toward the crypto sector.
The SEC also said that in the period leading up to Donald Trump‘s 2025 inauguration, its enforcement division engaged in an unprecedented rush to file cases and aggressively pursued novel legal theories. Atkins has since described a deliberate departure from that approach, stating the commission is refocusing on its core mission of meaningful investor protection and market integrity. He said resources have been redirected toward fraud, market manipulation, and abuses of trust, rather than toward actions designed to generate headlines or record-breaking penalty figures.
Data from consulting firm Cornerstone Research, published in November, showed that enforcement actions against public companies — including those involving crypto — fell by approximately 30% in fiscal 2025 compared with fiscal 2024 under Atkins. In connection with its 2025 enforcement results, the SEC reported obtaining orders for monetary relief totaling $17.9 billion. That figure comprises $7.2 billion in civil penalties, with the remainder consisting of disgorgement and prejudgment interest.
The agency stated that its 2025 enforcement results are intended to clarify the shortcomings of prior actions and re-establish a definition of enforcement effectiveness grounded in Congress’s original intent. Officials said the goal is to bring actions that genuinely prevent investor harm rather than those aimed at inflated statistics. The SEC framed the recalibration as a return to principled enforcement rather than a retreat from oversight.
Despite the overall shift in tone, several cryptocurrency companies still faced enforcement actions during 2025. In May, the SEC sued Unicoin and four of its current and former executives, alleging the company raised $100 million by misleading investors about certificates purportedly conveying rights to receive Unicoin tokens and stock. Unicoin has disputed the agency’s characterization, accusing the SEC of distorting its regulatory statements to construct a case.
The agency also filed a civil complaint in April against Ramil Ventura Palafox, chief executive of Praetorian Group International, for allegedly orchestrating a $200 million Ponzi scheme. A parallel criminal case brought by the US Department of Justice resulted in Palafox receiving a sentence of 20 years in prison in February. The dual proceedings illustrate that while the SEC has narrowed its enforcement focus, cases involving alleged large-scale fraud continue to move forward.
Originally reported by CoinTelegraph.
