SEC Crypto Enforcement: Complete History from Gensler to Atkins (2026)

TL;DR

• SEC crypto enforcement ran from the 2017 DAO Report through the 2025 Coinbase dismissal in two distinct phases: the Gensler era of aggressive "regulation by enforcement" (April 2021 – January 2025) and the Atkins-Peirce pivot to clarity (April 2025 – present).
• Major cases included SEC v. Ripple (filed Dec 2020, partial Ripple win July 2023, $125M penalty August 2024), SEC v. Coinbase (filed June 2023, dismissed with prejudice February 2025), SEC v. Binance (filed June 2023, settled 2025), SEC v. Kraken (filed November 2023, settled 2024), and Wells Notices to Uniswap Labs, ConsenSys, Robinhood Crypto, and OpenSea.
• The pivot came with Trump Executive Order 14178 (23 January 2025), the SAB 121 reversal, the SEC Crypto Task Force under Hester Peirce, and Senate confirmation of Paul Atkins as SEC Chair on 9 April 2025.
• For 2026 builders, this history matters because it explains why fit-for-purpose registration paths, the GENIUS Act, and CLARITY/FIT21 dominate the policy agenda — and why parallel regulators like NY DFS, FinCEN, and OFAC continue to apply pressure even after the SEC has stepped back.

Table of contents

• Overview: two SEC eras
• The Gensler era — April 2021 to January 2025
• Howey Test as applied to crypto
• Major Gensler-era cases — chronological
• Wells Notices
• The Atkins pivot — April 2025 onwards
• The SEC Crypto Task Force
• SAB 121 reversal
• Trump Executive Order 14178 and the Crypto Czar
• SEC versus CFTC turf
• State and federal parallel regulators
• Largest crypto fines on record
• Enforcement timeline 2017-2026
• Why this matters for builders in 2026
• Risks and criticism
• How to engage with the SEC in 2026 (step-by-step)
• FAQ
• Glossary
• Related reading
• Sources

Overview: two SEC eras

US Securities and Exchange Commission crypto enforcement is best understood as two distinct periods divided by the political transition of January 2025:

1. The Gensler era (April 17 2021 – January 20 2025). Aggressive regulation by enforcement under Chair Gary Gensler. Dozens of enforcement actions against centralised exchanges, lending platforms, staking-as-a-service providers, NFT marketplaces, and individual token issuers. The SEC argued that almost every non-Bitcoin token was an unregistered security under the Howey Test.
2. The Atkins-Peirce pivot (January 21 2025 – present). Acting Chair Mark Uyeda took over on 21 January 2025; Paul Atkins was confirmed on 9 April 2025. Under their leadership the SEC voluntarily dismissed multiple pending lawsuits, reversed SAB 121, launched the Crypto Task Force led by Hester Peirce, and endorsed the GENIUS Act and the FIT21 / CLARITY market-structure framework.

The two eras are sharper in policy than in personality: many SEC career staff continue across the transition, and the underlying statutory framework has not changed. What changed was the prioritisation, the use of enforcement discretion, and the willingness to write fit-for-purpose disclosure rules.

The Gensler era — April 2021 to January 2025

Gary Gensler, former Goldman Sachs partner, MIT professor of blockchain and money, and CFTC Chair under Obama, was confirmed as SEC Chair on 17 April 2021. His public position from day one was that crypto markets are "rife with fraud, scams, and abuse" and that the existing securities laws — primarily the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 — already cover most crypto-assets. His mantra was "come in and register".

Critics, including SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce, Senator Cynthia Lummis, and Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal, argued that the SEC had no functional registration path for tokens. Form S-1 disclosures were drafted for equity issuers, the broker-dealer regime had no rules for digital-asset custody, and ATS rules did not contemplate 24/7 settlement. "Come in and register" therefore meant in practice "stop operating".

Despite this, the Gensler-era SEC filed roughly 125 crypto-related enforcement actions over four years, ranging from individual fraud cases to flagship lawsuits against the largest US-facing exchanges. Total disgorgement and penalty figures across 2021-2024 exceeded $4 billion.

The Howey Test as applied to crypto

The Howey Test, established by SEC v. W.J. Howey Co., 328 U.S. 293 (1946), defines an investment contract — one of the categories of "security" under the Securities Act — as the presence of:

1. An investment of money (or other valuable consideration),
2. In a common enterprise,
3. With an expectation of profit,
4. Derived from the efforts of others.

The SEC's DAO Report of 25 July 2017 was the first formal SEC determination that a token sale (Slock.it's "The DAO") satisfied Howey. Every subsequent enforcement action built on that foundation. The most cited cases for crypto-Howey analysis include:

• SEC v. Telegram Group Inc., 1:19-cv-09439 (S.D.N.Y. 2020) — Judge Castel ruled that Telegram's Gram tokens were securities under Howey. Settlement included $18.5M civil penalty plus $1.2B disgorgement of investor funds.
• SEC v. Kik Interactive, 1:19-cv-05244 (S.D.N.Y. 2020) — KIN tokens found to be securities. $5M civil penalty.
• SEC v. Ripple Labs, 1:20-cv-10832 (S.D.N.Y. 2020-2024) — partial Ripple win in 2023 distinguishing between programmatic and institutional sales of XRP.
• SEC v. Wahi, 2022 — first SEC insider-trading case for tokens, settled 2023.
• SEC v. Terraform Labs and Do Kwon, 2023 — UST and LUNA found to be securities; a jury found Terraform and Kwon liable in 2024, followed by a settlement.
• Coinbase v. SEC, 3rd Circuit, 2024 — Coinbase's mandamus petition to compel rulemaking; partial denial but court ordered SEC to respond on the merits.

Court decisions split. Programmatic exchange sales of XRP were found not to be securities; ETH was effectively treated as not a security since 2018 William Hinman speech; staking-as-a-service was held to be a security in SEC v. Kraken settlement; tokens sold via airdrop have never been finally adjudicated. The Atkins-era SEC has paused new Howey-based enforcement pending GENIUS Act implementation and CLARITY/FIT21 passage.

Major Gensler-era cases — chronological

Telegram (TON) — 2019-2020

SEC v. Telegram Group Inc., filed 11 October 2019. Telegram had raised $1.7 billion in a 2018 ICO for the Telegram Open Network's Gram tokens. Judge Kevin Castel granted preliminary injunction in March 2020; Telegram settled, paid $18.5M penalty plus $1.2B disgorgement.

Kik Interactive (KIN) — 2019-2020

Filed 4 June 2019. Kik raised about $100M selling KIN tokens in 2017. Judge Hellerstein granted summary judgment for the SEC on 30 September 2020 finding KIN was a security. $5M penalty.

BlockFi — February 2022

The first crypto-lending settlement. BlockFi paid $50M to the SEC, $50M to 32 state regulators, and agreed to stop offering BlockFi Interest Accounts (BIAs) to US retail. (BlockFi SEC settlement)

Genesis and Gemini Earn — January 2023

The SEC sued Genesis Global Capital and Gemini Trust on 12 January 2023, alleging Gemini Earn was an unregistered securities offering. Settled in late 2024 with Genesis paying $21M to the SEC and a parallel $1.4B in customer recoveries; Gemini paid a $37M fine to NY DFS in 2024.

Kraken — February 2023 and November 2023

First settlement on 9 February 2023: Payward (Kraken) paid $30M and shut down its US staking-as-a-service product. Second case filed 20 November 2023, alleging Kraken operated as an unregistered exchange, broker, and clearing agency. Settled 2024 (SEC v. Kraken).

Coinbase — June 2023 to February 2025

Filed 6 June 2023. Two-year litigation; Judge Failla denied Coinbase's motion to dismiss in March 2024. Voluntarily dismissed with prejudice on 27 February 2025 (SEC v. Coinbase voluntarily dismissed) by Acting Chair Mark Uyeda's SEC.

Binance — June 2023 to mid-2025

Filed 5 June 2023. Alleged operating an unregistered exchange and the offer/sale of unregistered securities including BNB and BUSD. Settled in mid-2025 under the Atkins SEC (SEC v. Binance settled). Parallel CFTC and DOJ actions resulted in a $4.3B settlement in November 2023, with founder CZ pleading guilty and serving four months of prison time in 2024.

Ripple Labs — December 2020 to March 2025

The longest-running SEC crypto case. Filed 22 December 2020. On 13 July 2023 Judge Analisa Torres ruled programmatic XRP sales were not securities but institutional sales were; jury phase dropped 2024. Ripple paid $125M civil penalty on 7 August 2024 for institutional-sale violations. SEC dropped its appeal on 19 March 2025 (SEC v. Ripple).

Uniswap Labs Wells Notice — April 2024

The SEC sent Uniswap Labs a Wells Notice in April 2024, signalling potential enforcement against the protocol's operating company over operating an unregistered exchange. Dismissed in March 2025 without proceeding to enforcement.

ConsenSys (MetaMask) — June 2024

Filed 28 June 2024 alleging MetaMask Swaps and MetaMask Staking were unregistered broker activities and unregistered securities offerings. Voluntarily dismissed in March 2025 under Atkins.

OpenSea Wells Notice — August 2024

SEC sent OpenSea a Wells Notice in August 2024 contemplating enforcement on the basis that NFTs sold on the secondary market were unregistered securities. Withdrawn in February 2025 (OpenSea SEC Wells Notice).

Robinhood Crypto Wells Notice — May 2024

Robinhood received a Wells Notice in May 2024 over its crypto-trading product. Dropped in February 2025; Robinhood Crypto continues to operate. Robinhood Crypto separately paid a $30M NY DFS penalty in August 2022 for AML deficiencies.

Celsius — July 2023

Joint SEC/CFTC/FTC charges alongside DOJ criminal indictment against Alex Mashinsky on 13 July 2023. Mashinsky was convicted on multiple counts in late 2024 (Celsius SEC/CFTC/FTC charges).

Nexo and Abra — 2023, 2024

Smaller lending-platform settlements: Nexo paid $45M total to SEC and 53 state regulators in January 2023 (Nexo SEC settlement); Abra paid $35M in June 2024 (Abra SEC settlement).

Wells Notices — full list

A Wells Notice is a formal SEC Division of Enforcement notification that staff intend to recommend the Commission file an enforcement action. Recipients have approximately 30 days to file a Wells Submission. The most notable crypto-era Wells Notices:

The Atkins pivot — April 2025 onwards

Paul Atkins was nominated by President Donald Trump on 22 January 2025 and confirmed on 9 April 2025. Atkins was previously a Republican SEC Commissioner (2002-2008) and the founder of consultancy Patomak Global Partners. He was a long-time critic of regulation-by-enforcement and a public supporter of fit-for-purpose disclosure regimes for digital assets.

Within his first three months as Chair, Atkins:

• Created the SEC Crypto Task Force (formally launched by Acting Chair Mark Uyeda on 21 January 2025) and appointed Hester Peirce as head.
• Voluntarily dismissed pending crypto lawsuits including against Coinbase, ConsenSys, Robinhood, Uniswap Labs, and OpenSea.
• Reversed Staff Accounting Bulletin 121 by issuing SAB 122 on 23 January 2025.
• Endorsed the GENIUS Act in May 2025 testimony before the Senate Banking Committee.
• Aligned the SEC behind the FIT21 / CLARITY market-structure bill.
• Issued staff statements clarifying that meme coins, proof-of-work mining, and protocol staking are generally not securities transactions.
• Created a fit-for-purpose tokenised-securities exemption (the "limited tokenised trading" framework outlined by Peirce in November 2025).

The SEC Crypto Task Force

The SEC Crypto Task Force is a cross-divisional working group launched on 21 January 2025 and continued under Chair Atkins. It is led by Commissioner Hester Peirce, often called "Crypto Mom" for her decade of dissents against SEC enforcement actions. The Task Force coordinates with:

• Division of Corporation Finance — disclosure rules and registration paths for token issuers.
• Division of Trading and Markets — exchange, broker-dealer, ATS, and clearing-agency rules.
• Division of Investment Management — ETF and fund treatment, including the spot Bitcoin and spot Ether ETF approvals.
• Division of Examinations — examination priorities for crypto-related registrants.
• Office of the Chief Accountant — accounting standards including SAB 122.

By April 2026 the Task Force had issued five staff statements addressing:

1. Meme coins (28 February 2025) — not generally securities.
2. Proof-of-work mining (20 March 2025) — not securities transactions.
3. Protocol staking (8 May 2025) — not securities.
4. Broker-dealer custody of digital assets (3 July 2025) — clarified custody obligations.
5. Tokenised securities exemptions (15 November 2025) — limited tokenised-trading exemption.

SAB 121 reversal — January 2025

In April 2022 the Gensler SEC issued Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 121 (SAB 121), requiring publicly traded companies that custody crypto-assets for customers to record those assets as liabilities on their balance sheets, with a corresponding asset for the safeguarding obligation. The practical effect was to make crypto custody prohibitively capital-intensive for US banks. Senate and House passed a Congressional Review Act resolution to overturn SAB 121 in May 2024, but President Biden vetoed it.

On 23 January 2025, the SEC under Acting Chair Mark Uyeda rescinded SAB 121 and replaced it with SAB 122, which restored the traditional off-balance-sheet treatment of customer-custodied digital assets. This reopened crypto custody to US banks and was a precondition for the bank-subsidiary path under the GENIUS Act.

Trump Executive Order 14178 and the Crypto Czar

On 23 January 2025 President Trump signed Executive Order 14178, "Strengthening American Leadership in Digital Financial Technology" (Trump Digital Assets EO), which:

• Revoked Biden EO 14067 of March 2022.
• Banned the establishment of a retail US central bank digital currency without explicit Congressional authorisation.
• Established the President's Working Group on Digital Asset Markets.
• Created the role of White House Crypto and AI Czar, filled by David Sacks.
• Ordered the Working Group to deliver a federal regulatory framework within 180 days, leading directly to the GENIUS Act in July 2025.

The EO was the executive-branch counterpart to the legislative push that produced the GENIUS Act and the regulatory pivot at the SEC.

SEC versus CFTC turf

The CFTC has historically taken a narrower view of crypto, treating Bitcoin and Ether as commodities under the Commodity Exchange Act and regulating the derivatives that reference them. Major CFTC actions:

• CFTC v. Bitfinex / Tether — October 2021 settlement, $42.5M penalty.
• CFTC v. Binance — November 2023 settlement of $4.3B (joint with DOJ and FinCEN).
• CFTC v. Polymarket — 2022 cease-and-desist; Polymarket later relaunched onshore in late 2024.
• CFTC v. Ooki DAO — charges filed September 2022, default judgment June 2023; a landmark DAO enforcement action.
• CFTC v. Mango Markets — 2023.

Under the GENIUS Act and the pending CLARITY/FIT21 Act, jurisdiction would split:

• Digital commodities (BTC, ETH, sufficiently decentralised tokens) → CFTC primary.
• Digital-asset securities → SEC primary.
• Payment stablecoins → OCC and state regulators (GENIUS Act), with SEC carve-out.
• Banking activities → Fed, OCC, FDIC.
• AML/CFT → FinCEN, Treasury OFAC.

State and federal parallel regulators

Even after the SEC pivot, US crypto firms operate under multiple parallel regulators:

• NY DFS under Superintendent Adrienne Harris. BitLicense, Limited Purpose Trust Charter, stablecoin guidance. Robinhood Crypto $30M penalty in August 2022, Coinbase $100M settlement in 2023, Paxos relationship for BUSD.
• FINRA — broker-dealer self-regulatory organisation. FINRA Reg Notice 22-08 on crypto. Disciplinary actions against IPO syndicate members for crypto disclosures.
• FinCEN — AML/CFT. Largest action: $4.3B Binance settlement in November 2023. Mandatory MSB registration, Travel Rule, suspicious activity reporting.
• Treasury OFAC — sanctions. Tornado Cash designation in August 2022 (later partially lifted in 2025). Lazarus Group and DPRK-related wallet designations.
• OCC — bank custody, federal trust charters, GENIUS Act PPSI charters.
• Fed Board of Governors — bank supervision, Fed-account access for crypto-friendly banks.
• State securities regulators — Texas State Securities Board, Alabama Securities Commission, others led the BlockFi multi-state action.

Largest crypto fines on record

Combined SEC + CFTC + DOJ + state crypto-related disgorgement and penalties from 2017 through April 2026 exceed $10 billion.

Enforcement timeline 2017-2026

Why this matters for builders in 2026

For US-facing crypto founders, the practical lessons of this enforcement history are:

1. Plan for parallel regulators. Even after the SEC pivot, NY DFS, FinCEN, OFAC, OCC, the Fed, FTC, state AGs, and CFTC all retain jurisdiction. The Atkins-era SEC is friendlier; nothing else has structurally changed.
2. Use fit-for-purpose registration paths. As Crypto Task Force rules drop, taking the new exemptions (tokenised-trading, protocol-staking, qualified custodian) is the lowest-risk path.
3. Document Howey defensibility. Even with the SEC paused on broad Howey enforcement, future administrations could revive it. Build documentation that supports a "not a security" or "Reg D / Reg S" defence.
4. Get a state licence. NY DFS BitLicense remains the most respected US state licence and a precondition for institutional partnership.
5. Plan for global licences. MiCA, GENIUS Act, Hong Kong VATP, Singapore MAS, UAE VARA. Build a cross-jurisdictional compliance map from day one.
6. Watch CLARITY/FIT21. The single most important pending US bill for the long-term securities-versus-commodity question.
7. Engage publicly. Comment letters, Crypto Task Force roundtables, and public no-action letter requests are now serious channels.

Risks and criticism

The Atkins-era pivot is not without critics:

• Consumer-protection rollback. Investor advocacy groups argue dismissing pending lawsuits leaves victims of fraud without a federal remedy.
• Regulatory whiplash. A future Democratic administration could reverse the pivot and revive enforcement, leaving firms subject to unpredictable swings.
• Crypto Task Force capture risk. Multiple commentators have raised concerns about industry influence over the new staff statements.
• Memecoin proliferation. The February 2025 staff statement that meme coins are not securities has been criticised for enabling rug-pull scams.
• Tokenised-securities ambiguity. The proposed tokenised-trading exemption is narrow; many real-world asset tokenisations still face uncertainty.
• Cross-jurisdictional gaps. OFAC sanctions, NY DFS examinations, and FinCEN AML enforcement continue to apply pressure regardless of SEC posture.

How to engage with the SEC in 2026 — step-by-step

1. Map your activities to existing categories. Are you offering an exchange, broker-dealer, ATS, ETF, transfer agent, or token-issuance? Each has its own SEC division.
2. Read the Crypto Task Force staff statements. Five issued by April 2026, more pending. They are the operative interpretive guidance.
3. Submit a no-action letter request. Under Atkins, no-action letters are a viable channel for novel structures — pre-clear treatment with the relevant Division.
4. File a Form 10 or S-1 with crypto-specific risk factors. If you do issue a token that may be a security, registered offerings under Reg D, Reg S, or Reg A+ remain available.
5. Attend Crypto Task Force roundtables. Hester Peirce's Task Force has held quarterly public roundtables since Q2 2025 covering custody, exchanges, mining, and DeFi.
6. Coordinate with state regulators. NY DFS, Wyoming SPDI, and Texas charters are increasingly important. Get pre-licensing alignment.
7. Build the parallel-regulator stack. FinCEN MSB registration, OFAC screening, state money-transmitter licences, OCC trust charter if applicable.
8. Plan for the CLARITY Act. Build modularity into your compliance stack so that the eventual SEC-CFTC split can be plugged in.

FAQ

What was the SEC's stance under Gary Gensler?

The Gensler SEC treated nearly all non-Bitcoin crypto-assets as unregistered securities, leading to dozens of enforcement actions and a regulation-by-enforcement reputation. From April 2021 through January 2025 the SEC filed roughly 125 crypto-related actions.

What happened in SEC v. Ripple?

Filed December 2020. In July 2023 Judge Torres ruled programmatic XRP sales were not securities; institutional sales were. Ripple paid $125M civil penalty in August 2024. SEC dropped its appeal in March 2025.

What happened to SEC v. Coinbase?

Filed June 2023. Two-year litigation. Judge Failla denied motion to dismiss in March 2024. Voluntarily dismissed with prejudice on 27 February 2025 by the Atkins-era SEC.

How did Howey apply to crypto?

Howey defines an investment contract by four prongs: investment of money, common enterprise, expectation of profit, derived from efforts of others. The Gensler SEC applied it aggressively to most token sales. Courts split between primary and secondary markets.

Who is Paul Atkins?

A former SEC Commissioner (2002-2008) and consultant, confirmed as SEC Chair on 9 April 2025. Atkins led the pivot to clarity, dismissed pending crypto lawsuits, and endorsed the GENIUS Act and FIT21 / CLARITY.

What is the SEC Crypto Task Force?

A cross-divisional working group launched in January 2025, led by Commissioner Hester Peirce. It is building fit-for-purpose disclosure and registration rules for crypto. By April 2026 it had issued five staff statements covering meme coins, mining, staking, custody, and tokenised securities.

What is a Wells Notice?

A formal SEC Division of Enforcement notification of intent to recommend an enforcement action. Recipients have approximately 30 days to file a Wells Submission. Major crypto Wells Notices include Coinbase, Uniswap, ConsenSys, Robinhood, and OpenSea.

Largest SEC crypto fines?

Telegram $18.5M plus $1.2B disgorgement; Ripple $125M; BlockFi $100M; Genesis $21M plus $1.4B; Gemini Earn $37M; Kraken $30M for staking; Bittrex $24M.

How does SEC enforcement compare with CFTC?

The CFTC treats BTC and ETH as commodities and has taken a narrower view. The largest joint action was the $4.3B Binance settlement in November 2023. FIT21/CLARITY would split jurisdiction between CFTC for digital commodities and SEC for digital-asset securities.

What does this mean for builders in 2026?

Plan for parallel regulators (NY DFS, FinCEN, OFAC, OCC), use the new fit-for-purpose registration paths, document Howey defensibility, and build a multi-jurisdictional compliance map (MiCA, GENIUS Act, Hong Kong VATP, MAS, VARA).

Glossary

• SEC — US Securities and Exchange Commission.
• CFTC — US Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
• NY DFS — New York State Department of Financial Services.
• Howey Test — 1946 Supreme Court test for investment-contract status.
• Wells Notice — formal SEC notification of intended enforcement.
• DAO Report — 2017 SEC report applying Howey to The DAO tokens.
• SAB 121 / SAB 122 — SEC Staff Accounting Bulletins on crypto custody balance-sheet treatment.
• Crypto Task Force — SEC working group launched 21 January 2025 under Hester Peirce.
• Reg D / Reg S / Reg A+ — SEC exemptions from full registration for offerings.
• PPSI — Permitted Payment Stablecoin Issuer under the GENIUS Act.

Related reading

• GENIUS Act Explained: The US Stablecoin Law
• MiCA Explained: The EU Crypto Regulation
• Stablecoins Explained: The Complete 2026 Guide
• Hong Kong Crypto Licensing: The Complete 2026 Guide
• Best Crypto ETFs 2026 Guide
• What Is DeFi? The Complete 2026 Guide

Sources and further reading

• SEC — Crypto Assets Hub
• SEC — Division of Enforcement
• SEC — Press Release Archive
• SEC — Crypto Task Force statements
• CFTC — Digital Assets
• DOJ — Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team
• NY DFS — Virtual Currency Businesses
• FinCEN — Money Services Businesses
• Treasury OFAC
• S.1582 — GENIUS Act
• SEC v. Ripple Labs Inc., 1:20-cv-10832 (S.D.N.Y.)
• SEC v. Coinbase Inc., 1:23-cv-04738 (S.D.N.Y.)
• BIS Working Paper 905 — Stablecoins
• FSI Insights 49 — Crypto, tokens and DeFi
• FSB — Crypto-asset Activities Recommendations
• a16z State of Crypto Report 2025

About the author

DeFi Intel Research covers crypto market structure, MEV, tokenisation, and global crypto regulation. The team includes former bank-trading-floor engineers, securities lawyers, and protocol researchers, with on-chain and TradFi research published since 2021. For corrections or research collaboration, contact us via the about page.

Last updated: 2026-04-26