Q4 2025 in US crypto enforcement: 28 actions, the fewest of 2024 and 2025

US agencies announced 28 distinct crypto enforcement actions in the fourth quarter of 2025, according to the Bitminer.io enforcement ledger, the fewest of any quarter in 2024 or 2025. The Justice Department brought 21, OFAC 4 and the SEC 3. Romance and trust scams were the most common scheme, with 8 actions.

The theft ring

The racketeering case against the social engineering ring behind more than $263 million in thefts kept moving. In December, a 22-year-old California man pleaded guilty, the ninth defendant to do so, and three more people were charged.

Crypto ATMs

In November, the founder of Crypto Dispensers, a Chicago company that ran cash-to-crypto ATMs around the country, was indicted along with the company in an alleged $10 million money laundering conspiracy.

Convictions and sentences

Also in November, a jury in Chicago convicted a Texas man of mail fraud over Meta-1 Coin, a scheme that took at least $14 million from nearly 1,000 investors. He had been charged in March 2024, and in April 2026 he was sentenced to 23 years. In October, a Chinese national who led a darknet oxycodone operation was sentenced to 180 months.

The SEC

One of the SEC’s 3 actions was against Shima Capital, a crypto venture firm, and its owner. The SEC charged them with misleading investors while raising $169.9 million for crypto funds, and both agreed to settle.

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.