SEC Crypto Crackdown Shrinks 60% Under Trump Pick Paul Atkins
US securities regulators opened far fewer crypto-related enforcement actions in 2025, with a Cornerstone Research 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 degree since 2017.
Part of that rely displays a handover on the high. Five of the 13 actions had been initiated underneath Gary Gensler earlier than his departure in Jan. 2025, whereas eight had been initiated underneath Atkins. Those eight included allegations of fraud.
That combine issues for crypto markets that spent the previous couple of years bracing for regulation by enforcement.
Image Source: Cornerstone Research
Fewer Cases, But A Sharper Focus Under Atkins
With the SEC focusing new crypto circumstances on fraud, the main focus has shifted away from broad registration theories and towards circumstances constructed round clear investor hurt which are simpler to argue in court docket.
The identical report additionally discovered 29 crypto-related actions had been resolved in 2025, together with seven that the SEC dismissed underneath Atkins.
Meanwhile, complete financial penalties imposed towards digital asset market contributors got here to $142M in 2025, which Cornerstone mentioned was lower than 3% of the penalties imposed in 2024.
SEC Focus Turns To Frameworks Beyond Courtrooms
“Enforcement actions underneath 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 Research.
“Digital asset regulation continues to evolve and is one thing we will likely 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 for the reason that management change.
If the SEC retains prioritizing circumstances it could actually body as fraud, the following section of US crypto oversight might hinge much less on shock lawsuits and extra on what rulemaking, steering, or negotiated requirements the fee chooses to placed on the desk in 2026.
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