FTX and its sister company Alameda faced the largest crypto-related enforcement by U.S. regulators, with a combined settlement of $12.7 billion.

According to CoinGecko's findings, this amount ranks among the highest penalties imposed on cryptocurrency companies, highlighting the regulator's attention to the now-bankrupt exchange. Meanwhile, Binance's $4 billion settlement is the largest fine ever issued to an operating cryptocurrency company. However, it only ranks fourth.

FTX stepped up its crackdown

The crypto data aggregator revealed in a report released earlier this week that 25 U.S. crypto enforcement actions resulted in settlements of more than $10 million each, with total fines in those cases approaching $32 billion, suggesting a growing crackdown on the industry.

Of the 25 cryptocurrency enforcement actions in the U.S., 16 settlements have been reached in the past two years. This essentially indicates that regulatory oversight has increased after the dramatic collapse of FTX, led by disgraced executive Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), in late 2022.

The data shows that in 2023 alone, US regulators settled eight major lawsuits for a total of $10.87 billion - a record high and a staggering 8,327.1% increase from the previous year.

Several victories for U.S. regulators

U.S. regulators have reached eight major settlements in major cryptocurrency litigation from 2019 to 2022. The first occurred in late 2019, when the SEC reached a $24 million agreement with Block.one, the company behind EOS, for selling unregistered securities.

In 2020, the SEC won two more cases: BitClave agreed to pay $29.34 million in May, while Telegram was fined $1.24 billion for its Gram token offering, including $1.22 billion in disgorgement and $18.5 million in civil penalties.

During the 2021 bull run, regulators recorded three notable settlements, starting with stablecoin issuer Tether, which settled with the New York Attorney General for $18.5 million, followed by a $41 million agreement with the CFTC over claims regarding the dollar backing of its USDT stablecoin.

The CFTC also imposed a $1.5 million settlement on Tether’s parent company Bitfinex for illegal trading. In addition, cryptocurrency exchanges Poloniex and BitMEX settled lawsuits for $10.39 million and $100 million, respectively, in August 2021.

Meanwhile, in 2022, crypto lender BlockFi and crypto exchange Bittrex reached settlements of $100 million and $29 million with the SEC and the Treasury Department, respectively.