US securities regulators opened far fewer crypto-related enforcement actions in 2025, with a Cornerstone Analysis report pointing to a pointy shift in priorities after President Donald Trump’s administration put in Paul Atkins as SEC chair.
The report discovered the SEC initiated 13 crypto-related actions in 2025, down from 33 in 2024, a 60% decline and the bottom stage since 2017.
A part of that depend displays a handover on the high. 5 of the 13 actions had been initiated below Gary Gensler earlier than his departure in Jan. 2025, whereas eight had been initiated below Atkins. These eight included allegations of fraud.
That blend issues for crypto markets that spent the previous few years bracing for regulation by enforcement.
Picture Supply: Cornerstone Analysis
Fewer Circumstances, However A Sharper Focus Underneath Atkins
With the SEC focusing new crypto circumstances on fraud, the main target has shifted away from broad registration theories and towards circumstances constructed round clear investor hurt which can be simpler to argue in courtroom.
The identical report additionally discovered 29 crypto-related actions had been resolved in 2025, together with seven that the SEC dismissed below Atkins.
In the meantime, complete financial penalties imposed towards digital asset market individuals got here to $142M in 2025, which Cornerstone mentioned was lower than 3% of the penalties imposed in 2024.
SEC Focus Turns To Frameworks Past Courtrooms
“Enforcement actions below Chair Atkins replicate a shift within the SEC’s strategy to digital-asset oversight, per the priorities specified by early 2025,” mentioned Robert Letson, a principal at Cornerstone Analysis.
“Digital asset regulation continues to evolve and is one thing we shall be watching carefully in 2026.”
Atkins took workplace in April 2025 after a quick interval with an appearing chair, and authorized observers have tracked a broader reset in tone throughout the company because the management change.
If the SEC retains prioritizing circumstances it could possibly body as fraud, the subsequent section of US crypto oversight might hinge much less on shock lawsuits and extra on what rulemaking, steerage, or negotiated requirements the fee chooses to placed on the desk in 2026.
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