According to the CoinGecko analysis report, since 2019, US regulatory agencies have obtained a total of $31.92 billion in settlements from lawsuits against various cryptocurrency companies.
Table of Contents
ToggleFTX and Alameda paid a total of $12.7 billion,becoming the penalty king
The cryptocurrency exchange FTX and its sister company Alameda reached a settlement with the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in August 2024, paying a record-breaking $12.7 billion settlement, making it the largest penalty in the cryptocurrency industry since 2019. This money will be used to repay the $11.2 billion owed to FTX's victims and creditors.
Celsius, Terraform Labs and Binance took the top four spots
In 2022, the collapse of Celsius and Terraform Labs marked the beginning of the bear market, ultimately leading to the downfall of FTX, which prompted the US government to impose stricter regulations on the cryptocurrency industry. In 2024, Celsius paid a $4.7 billion settlement, Terraform Labs paid $4.5 billion, and Binance paid $4.3 billion in 2023, making it the only company still in operation that had to pay such a high settlement.
The frequency of fines and settlements for cryptocurrency companies has increased sharply
The fines and settlements imposed by US regulatory agencies on the cryptocurrency industry have increased rapidly in the past two years. Since the FTX collapse in 2022, there have been 16 major settlement cases in 2023 and 2024, with the amounts increasing year-over-year. In 2024 alone, there was a over 78.9% increase in fines, indicating the US government's tightening grip on the cryptocurrency industry. Cumulatively, the US government has collected over $31.9 billion in fines from the cryptocurrency industry since 2019.
Classic penalty cases from 2019 to 2022
US enforcement actions against the cryptocurrency industry began in 2019, when the SEC fined the issuer of EOS, Block.one, $24 million. In 2020, Telegram was fined $1.2 billion for failing to register the issuance of Gram tokens.
As the cryptocurrency boom took off in 2021, the stablecoin issuer Tether paid a $18.5 million fine for misrepresenting USDT assets. Exchanges like Poloniex and BitMEX were also fined, and in 2022, BlockFi and Bittrex paid $100 million and $29 million in fines respectively, indicating the US regulatory crackdown on the industry.
(CFTC ordered Tether and Bitfinex to pay a total of $42.5 million in fines)
