U.S. regulators secured more than $19 billion in settlements from crypto companies in 2024, nearly two-thirds of the total settlements collected so far. According to a report from CoinGecko, most of these settlements came from the now-bankrupt FTX exchange and its partner, Alameda. They alone contributed $12.7 billion to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in an August settlement.
In 2024, regulators have collected 78% more in settlements compared to 2023, when $10.87 billion was paid out. According to CoinGecko, this marks a staggering 8,327% increase in settlement amounts compared to 2022. These totals include forfeiture, disgorgement, civil penalties, settlements, and prejudgment interest but exclude lawsuits against individual executives.
Regulatory impact on crypto
CoinGecko research analyst Lim Yu Qian explained that Celsius’s and Terraform Labs’ downfalls in mid-2022 were major turning points that shifted the crypto market from a bullish phase to a bearish one. This eventually led to FTX’s collapse, triggering more regulatory scrutiny in the U.S.
Terraform Labs also reached a $4.47 billion settlement with the SEC over the collapse of its algorithmic stablecoin TerraUSD (UST) in 2022, making it the second-largest settlement of the year. Genesis secured the third spot in 2024 after reaching a $2 billion settlement with the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) in August. The company had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy back in Jan. 2023.
With a few months left in the year, Qian believes there could be more settlements coming, given how persistent regulators have been. Qian highlighted a significant case from 2023 in which a company continued operations after finalizing a settlement.
In Nov. 2023, Binance and its former CEO, Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, agreed to plead guilty to multiple charges, including violations of Anti-Money Laundering laws, to settle lawsuits with various U.S. regulators, such as the Department of Justice (DOJ), Treasury Department, and CFTC. Since 2019, US regulators have secured roughly $31.92 billion in settlements from cryptocurrency companies.
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