In 2024, U.S. regulatory bodies have managed to secure more than $19 billion in settlements from cryptocurrency firms, representing a significant portion of all settlements recorded to date.
Most of this sum – $12.7 billion – resulted from an August agreement with the CFTC involving the collapsed FTX exchange and Alameda.
This year’s total exceeds the $10.87 billion recorded in 2023 by 78% and reflects an extraordinary 8,327% increase compared to 2022. The settlements cover forfeitures and civil penalties but exclude individual executive lawsuits.
CoinGecko analyst Lim Yu Qian notes that the collapses of Celsius and Terraform Labs in 2022 triggered intensified regulatory scrutiny, especially after FTX’s downfall. Terraform Labs received a $4.47 billion fine from the SEC over its TerraUSD (UST) collapse, while Genesis reached a $2 billion settlement with the Office of the Attorney General after filing for bankruptcy.
As the year progresses, Qian expects more settlements given the ongoing regulatory focus on the crypto sector. Notably, Binance settled for a billion dollars last November, marking the only case involving an active crypto firm, following its plea deal on various charges, including Anti-Money Laundering violations. Since 2019, regulators have collected about $31.92 billion in total settlements from the crypto industry.
The first week of July brings several important developments in the United States that could influence both traditional markets and the cryptocurrency sector.
Ric Edelman, one of the most influential voices in personal finance, has radically revised his stance on crypto allocation. After years of cautious optimism, he now believes that digital assets deserve a far larger share in investment portfolios than ever before.
In the case involving Terraform Labs and its co-founder Do Hyeong Kwon, the defense has asked the Federal Court for the Southern District of New York to extend the deadline for pretrial filings by two weeks, pushing it beyond the original date of July 1, 2025.
Coinbase has emerged as the best-performing stock in the S&P 500 for June, climbing 43% amid a surge of bullish momentum driven by regulatory clarity, product innovation, and deeper institutional interest in crypto.