★ Government Action
Trump's SEC crypto enforcement falls 60% in first year
Filed January 2025$142,000,000
★ The Brief
What happened
In its first year under Trump-appointed chair Paul Atkins, the Securities and Exchange Commission sharply pulled back its policing of the crypto industry. The agency brought 13 cryptocurrency-related enforcement actions in 2025, down from 33 the year before — a 60% drop — and five of those 13 were carried over from cases filed before Gary Gensler stepped down as chair in January 2025. Financial penalties against crypto firms fell to $142 million, less than 3% of the total imposed in 2024.
Who enabled it
Who benefits
Deal or steal?
This isn't neutral restraint. The president's family is now in the crypto business itself — it launched the World Liberty Financial platform and the $TRUMP memecoin — and the dropped cases line up with the industry's biggest Trump donors. The SEC dismissed its case against Coinbase ($1.75M to his campaign and inaugural), ended its Ripple suit ($4.89M to his inaugural), and closed its Robinhood probe ($2M). The 60% drop is the sum of decisions like these.
In calendar year 2025, the SEC initiated 13 cryptocurrency-related enforcement actions, down from 33 in 2024 — a 60% decrease. Monetary penalties against digital-asset market participants totaled $142 million in 2025, representing less than 3% of the monetary penalties imposed in 2024. Five of the 13 actions were brought under outgoing Chair Gary Gensler prior to his departure in January 2025. The decline reflects a shift in enforcement priorities under Chair Paul Atkins, who assumed leadership of the agency in 2025.
Actors
Who pushed it · 2Who initiated, paid, or pushed the action.
Paul AtkinsAssumed the SEC chairmanship in 2025 and presided over a sharp reduction in cryptocurrency enforcement activity, with the agency initiating only 8 actions under his tenure in 2025.
Securities and Exchange CommissionUnder Atkins's direction, initiated only 13 cryptocurrency enforcement actions in 2025 — a 60% drop from 2024 — and imposed $142 million in monetary penalties, less than 3% of the prior year's total.
Sector-wide beneficiaries
- Cryptocurrency
A 60% drop in SEC crypto enforcement actions and a ~97% drop in monetary penalties lowers the cost of doing business for digital-asset firms industry-wide, beyond the handful of cases that were individually dismissed.
Sector-aligned organizations that have paid into Trump’s orbit:
Further reading
- ★ Government ActionJanuary 2026Trump's two top market regulators launch joint 'Project Crypto'
- ★ Government ActionApril 2025Trump's SEC pauses Gemini Trust enforcement lawsuit
- ★ Government ActionAugust 2025Trump orders Labor Department to allow alternative assets in 401(k)s
- ★ Government ActionAugust 2025Trump's SEC ends Biden-era Ripple Labs crypto enforcement case
- ★ Government ActionFebruary 2025Trump's SEC closes Robinhood crypto investigation with no action
- ★ Government ActionFebruary 2025Trump's SEC dismisses civil enforcement case against Coinbase