This is an excerpt from SEC Cryptocurrency Enforcement: 2023 Update.

• In March 2023, the SEC imposed a total monetary settlement of $79.5 million in SEC v. Barksdale et al., of which $56.3 million consisted of disgorgement and prejudgment interest.¹ This was the largest monetary penalty imposed in 2023 and one of the largest settlements that the SEC has imposed in cryptocurrency-related enforcement actions.
• Since 2013, actions resolved with multimillion-dollar remedies in terms of disgorgement and/or civil penalties include SEC v. Telegram Group Inc. et al. in 2020; In the Matter of GTV Media Group Inc. and SEC v. Chen et al. in 2021; and SEC v. Haddow in 2019.²
• As of year-end 2023, the SEC has imposed total monetary penalties of approximately $2.89 billion since 2013—$2.08 billion in litigations and $0.81 billion in administrative proceedings.

Since 2013, monetary penalties have totaled approximately $2.89 billion, including $281 million from settlements in 20 litigations and 19 administrative proceedings in 2023.3

• Approximately 12% of the $2.89 billion consisted of civil penalties, while disgorgement and prejudgment interest comprised the remaining 88%.
• Of the $2.89 billion, the SEC imposed $2.02 billion in actions against firm defendants/respondents only.
• As of December 31, 2023, the total monetary penalties that the SEC had charged in ICO-related enforcement actions against issuers of alleged unregistered securities offerings totaled $2.21 billion.

¹Final Judgment, SEC v. John Barksdale, and Jonatina L. Barksdale, 1:22-cv-01933 (S.D.N.Y.), March 15, 2023. See also SEC, “SEC Obtains Judgment Against Siblings Who Orchestrated Massive Crypto Asset Fraud,” https://www.sec.gov/litigation/litreleases/lr-25680.

²SEC, “Telegram to Return $1.2 Billion to Investors and Pay $18.5 Million Penalty to Settle SEC Charges,” Press Release, June 26, 2020, https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2020-146; SEC, “SEC Charges Three Media Companies with Illegal Offerings of Stock and Digital Assets,” Press Release, September 13, 2021, https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2021-175; Final Judgment, SEC v. Steve Chen et al., 15-cv-07425 (C.D.Cal.), March 13, 2017, https://www.sec.gov/files/Judg15-cv-07425Chen.pdf; Final Default Judgment as to Defendant Bar Works Capital LLC in SEC v. Renmick Haddow et al., 17-cv-04950 (S.D.N.Y.), Doc. No. 68, October 10, 2017; Final Default Judgment as to Defendant Bitcoin Store Inc. in SEC v. Renmick Haddow et al., 17-cv-04950 (S.D.N.Y.), Doc. Nos. 78, 79, and 80, January 18, 2018; Judgment as to Defendant Renmick Haddow in SEC v. Renmick Haddow et al., 17-cv-04950 (S.D.N.Y.), Doc. No. 106, September 10, 2019.

³On September 26, 2023, the SEC instituted an administrative proceeding in In the Matter of Brian Bartlett Amoah and Elbert "Al" Elliott, which was still open as of December 31, 2023. See In the Matter of Brian Bartlett Amoah and Elbert "Al" Elliott, September 26, 2023, https://www.sec.gov/files/litigation/admin/2023/34-98526.pdf; SEC, “SEC Institutes Administrative Proceedings Against Unregistered Brokers Conducting a Fraudulent and Unregistered Offering of Crypto Asset Securities,” September 26, 2023, https://www.sec.gov/enforce/34-98526-s.

The views expressed herein are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of Cornerstone Research.