The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced on the 14th the Enforcement Results for Fiscal Year 2023, revealing that the SEC initiated 784 enforcement actions, resulting in a total of US$4.949 billion in fines.

This figure was second only to the US$6.4 billion fines imposed in 2022, marking the second-highest penalty amount in SEC history. Nearly US$1 billion was distributed to affected investors.

During the fiscal year 2023 (from October 2022 to September 2023), cases under the SEC's focused investigation involved the cryptocurrency industry within the entire securities sector, cybersecurity, and the conduct of Wall Street brokerage employees utilizing unapproved communication platforms for business operations.

Another Highly Productive and Impactful Year

In the field of crypto, the report indicates that,

"Fiscal year 2023 was another highly productive and impactful year for the SEC’s enforcement efforts relating to crypto asset securities. In fiscal year 2023, the Division recommended enforcement actions addressing a range of alleged misconduct in the crypto asset securities space, including billion-dollar crypto fraud schemes, unregistered crypto asset offerings, platforms, and intermediaries, and illegal celebrity touting."

Cryptocurrency Scam Allegations

The investigations by the SEC in the fiscal year 2023 have led to widespread allegations of cryptocurrency fraud, including lawsuits against former CEO SBF and other top executives of FTX, Terraform Labs and its founder Do Kwon, Richard Heart, and three entities under his control- Hex, PulseChain, and PulseX.

Unregistered Securities

The SEC has filed charges against several cryptocurrency firms, accusing them of offering unregistered securities. For instance, Genesis/Gemini, Kraken, Nexo and Celsius. Kraken and Nexo have agreed to pay fines to settle.

The SEC has also filed its first lawsuit against NFT issuers, accusing Impact Theory LLC and Stoner Cats 2 LLC of illegally offering unregistered crypto securities in the form of NFTs.

Celebrities Also Accused

Besides taking a series of enforcement actions against the cryptocurrency trading platforms Binance,Coinbase, BeaxyandBittrex for their violations, they also charged some celebrities with illegally selling cryptographic asset securities.

This includes NBA Hall of Famer Paul Pierce and media personality Kim Kardashian. They have agreed to pay a total of $1.35 million and $1.26 million in civil penalties, forfeiture of illegal gains, and pre-judgement interest, respectively, to reach a settlement.

SEC has also charged celebrities Aliaune Thiam (Akon), Lindsay Lohan, Miles Parks McCollum (Lil Yachty), Jake Paul, Michele Mason (Kendra Lust), Shaffer Smith (Ne-Yo), DeAndre Cortez Way (Soulja Boy), and Austin Mahone, mostly alleging them over crypto promotion.

Since 2022, it's evident that the SEC has been actively cracking down on illegal activities in the crypto space. Regulations are becoming increasingly stringent as well.