Crypto critics lament SEC enforcement reversal

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Since Paul Atkins replaced crypto bogeyman Gary Gensler as chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission, the agency has made what feels like a 180 degree turn.

We now have the numbers to support that feeling, and — spoiler alert — crypto critics are mad.

The SEC filed 456 enforcement actions in the 2025 fiscal year, which ended on September 30. That’s the lowest number in at least 21 years. Since 2006, when it filed 574, there hasn't been a single year in which the agency filed fewer.

The SEC has cast this as a necessary reset, a fresh commitment to the cases that really matter.

“Central to an effective enforcement programme is determining which cases to bring and responsibly stewarding Commission resources,” the agency said in a statement.

"The current Commission deliberately refocused the enforcement programme on matters of fraud—cases that inherently require more time and resources to develop and bring, often requiring up to two or more years to manifest results.”

On crypto specifically, the SEC made a “necessary course correction,” it said, citing its decision to drop cases brought against Coinbase, Consensys, Binance, and four other firms.

“Over the past year, the Commission has put a stop to regulation by enforcement and recentered its enforcement programme on the Commission’s core mission,” Atkins said in a statement that used crypto industry language summarising his predecessor’s approach to policing financial markets.

“We have redirected resources toward the types of misconduct that inflict the greatest harm — particularly fraud, market manipulation, and abuses of trust — and away from approaches that prioritised volume and record-setting penalties over true investor protection.”

Critics cry foul

This change has crypto critics writing eulogies for the SEC’s enforcement division.

John Reed Stark, the founder and former head of the agency’s Office of Internet Enforcement, called the announcement a “political manifesto” and lamented the “collapse of American securities regulation.”

“Chairman Paul Atkins used the occasion not to report results, but to rewrite the definition of success itself: the cases we didn't bring, the investigations we closed, the penalties we chose not to seek,” Stark wrote on LinkedIn.

He was particularly incensed by the agency’s “extraordinary request to be credited for 1,095 investigations the agency chose to abandon.”

To be sure, Gensler had it out for the crypto industry. In a September 2024 analysis, crypto venture capital firm Paradigm found that over half of the crypto-related enforcement actions the SEC had taken since 2015 came during Gensler’s tenure.

Gensler, in turn, said that nearly one-fifth of tips, complaints, and referrals were crypto-related, even though crypto accounted for less than one percent of US capital markets.

Atkins’ approach hasn’t just rankled industry critics. It seems it has also been controversial within the SEC.

In September, Atkins hired former military judge Margaret Ryan to lead the enforcement division. Last month, she abruptly resigned. Last week, the SEC hired attorney David Woodcock to lead the division.

"Even compared to President [Donald] Trump’s first term the numbers have fallen off a cliff,” Amanda Fischer, Gensler’s chief of staff, wrote on X.

“These numbers combined with the clear conflicts of interest with White House business entanglements and the abrupt departure of the Enforcement Director call into question the integrity of the agency.”

Aleks Gilbert is DL News’ New York-based DeFi correspondent. Have a tip? You can reach him at aleks@dlnews.com.

View source version on dlnews.com: https://www.dlnews.com/articles/regulation/crypto-critics-lament-sec-enforcement-reversal/

View source version on dlnews.com: https://www.dlnews.com/articles/regulation/crypto-critics-lament-sec-enforcement-reversal/

View source version on dlnews.com: https://www.dlnews.com/articles/regulation/crypto-critics-lament-sec-enforcement-reversal/

View source version on dlnews.com: https://www.dlnews.com/articles/regulation/crypto-critics-lament-sec-enforcement-reversal/