Q3 2024 in US crypto enforcement: the SEC’s busiest quarter, with 20 of 44 actions

US agencies announced 44 distinct crypto enforcement actions in the third quarter of 2024, according to the Bitminer.io enforcement ledger. The SEC brought 20 of them, more than in any other quarter since the ledger began in 2024. The Justice Department brought 14, the CFTC 8 and OFAC 2. Most were civil cases and settlements rather than criminal ones.

Silvergate

In July, the SEC charged Silvergate Capital, the bank that had served much of the crypto industry, and former executives with misleading investors about its anti-money laundering checks. Silvergate agreed to pay a $50 million penalty. Its former chief executive and former chief risk officer settled too, accepting five-year bans from serving as officers or directors. Its former finance chief did not settle.

Abra and BitClout

In August, the SEC filed settled charges against Abra over Abra Earn, a crypto lending product that at its height held about $600 million in assets, for failing to register it. In July it sued the founder of BitClout, a crypto social media platform, alleging he raised more than $257 million in unregistered token sales and misled investors.

The CFTC won a judgment of over $209 million in September against an Oregon man and his funds over crypto commodity pool Ponzi schemes.

A $230 million theft

On August 18, a victim in Washington was talked into handing over more than 4,100 bitcoin, worth over $230 million. In September, prosecutors charged two young men with conspiring to steal and launder it. The case grew into a racketeering prosecution of a wider social engineering ring, and in September 2026 its Singaporean ringleader pleaded guilty.

The SEC would not come close to 20 actions in a quarter again. Its count fell to 2 in the third quarter of 2025.

Sources

By The Assayer, the Bitminer.io house byline. Written by AI from the sources above and checked automatically. No person reviewed it before publication. How we work.