Cryptocurrency

SEC’s crypto actions surged 183% in 6 months after the FTX collapse

June 8, 2023
1 minute read

Cryptocurrency-related enforcement actions undertaken by the US securities regulator considerably elevated within the six months following the chapter of cryptocurrency change FTX.

An evaluation of press releases from the Securities and Trade Fee (SEC) and information stories on its actions discovered that within the six months previous FTX’s collapse — the SEC undertook roughly six enforcement actions.

Within the six months after FTX’s chapter on Nov. 11, 2022, SEC crypto-related enforcement actions jumped to at the very least 17, an estimated enhance of 183% from the previous interval.

Graph displaying the variety of SEC enforcement actions in every six-month interval referring to crypto.

The evaluation doesn’t account for the 2 current lawsuits the SEC introduced in opposition to Binance on June 5 and Coinbase a day later.

The elevated actions, together with the current ones taken in opposition to the 2 exchanges, has seen some observers suggesting the SEC is making an attempt to redeem itself for failing to police FTX.

On June 7, MarketWatch reported that Republican Consultant French Hill mentioned the current crackdown was a “cowl your ass” transfer from the regulator and SEC chair Gary Gensler. He was talking at an occasion in Washington D.C. that day.

Hill claimed as an alternative of Gensler “overseeing FTX” the SEC head was as an alternative “out bashing Kim Kardashian as a result of she’s promoted crypto on some Tremendous Bowl advert,” and mentioned:

“[Gensler] opened up this 12 months, in 2023, with all these enforcement actions, I feel it seems like [cover your ass] to me.”

Markus Thielen, the top of analysis and technique at Matrixport and writer of Crypto Titans beforehand instructed Cointelegraph he believes there’s an air of “embarrassment” for many who didn’t catch the problems at FTX.

Associated: SEC lawsuits: 67 cryptocurrencies at the moment are seen as securities by the SEC

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse echoed the sentiment, claiming in a June 6 tweet that the SEC is “throwing lawsuits on the wall and hoping they distract from the company’s FTX debacle.”

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