The United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) said that it has secured a record breaking $17.1 billion in monetary relief for fiscal year 2024 thanks to a huge contribution from crypto enforcement actions.
According to the official announcement by the regulator, driven by cryptocurrency enforcement actions, the CFTC bagged a record $17.1 billion in monetary relief for the fiscal year 2024, with the FTX case contributing the highest to this relief.
The agency’s largest recovery ever resulted from the resolution of digital asset cases, involving $14.5 billion in disgorgement and repayment and $2.6 billion in civil monetary sanctions.
Civil monetary penalties (CMPs) are levied by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) against organizations that break its rules and regulations. When choosing the proper CMP, the seriousness of the infraction is the main factor taken into account.
FTX Stays As Major Part Of CFTC’s Recovery
According to CFTC, a major factor in the recovery was the agency’s crackdown on the now-defunct cryptocurrency exchange FTX, which went down in November 2022.
Restitution and disgorgement from the FTX case totaled $12.7 billion, making it the “largest recovery for victims and sanctions in CFTC history.”
CFTC’s FY24 Cases: What Did It Include?
In FY 2024, the agency filed 58 new action lawsuits, including precedent-setting cases related to digital assets commodities, cases addressing voluntary carbon credit market fraud, intricate market manipulation cases, and important accordance cases.
“The CFTC remains steadfast in its duties to protect customers and vigorously oversee CFTC-regulated markets critical to the health of the U.S. economy,” Chairman Rostin Behnam said.
They added, “Misconduct in our jurisdictional markets is rarely confined, especially as these boundaries are continually being redefined by disruptive technology. I commend our Division of Enforcement for remaining thoughtful and agile in its response to evolving markets and a growing pool of participants. Their dedication to holding accountable those who violate the Commodity Exchange Act is invaluable to the American public.”
FTX and Binance Remain As Main Digital Asset Case Under CFTC’s Recovery
Fiscal 2024 saw CFTC filing numerous actions involving decentralized finance alongside charges with companies serving as intermediaries to digital asset exchanges.
Additionally, the agency secured record-breaking monetary sanctions and relief especially in the FTX and Binance cases.
The biggest win for the regulatory was when it resolved earlier fraud claims against FTX and Alameda Research, mandating that they pay $4 billion in disgorgement and $8.7 billion in restitution to make up for the losses suffered by the victims.
Additionally, the agency settled the first-of-its-kind charges against Binance, its founder Changpeng Zhao, and former chief compliance officer Samuel Lim for running an illicit digital asset derivatives exchange and willfully avoiding or attempting to avoid CFTC regulations and the Commodity Exchange Act.