The U.s. Article Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has obtained over $1.3 billion in administrative penalties in the financial twelvemonth 2022, which included funds collected from cryptocurrency operators.

According to the CFTC'southward almanac report for the 2022 financial year, the regulator obtained monetary relief in its enforcement actions — including in the class of civil monetary penalties, disgorgement, and restitution — totaling $ane,321,046,710. The figure is 39% higher than that of the previous financial year.

Notable crypto fraud cases

While the CFTC did not specify the verbal amount of regulatory penalties obtained from digital currency-related companies, information technology pointed out several charges involving Bitcoin (BTC) fraud. The CFTC noted the $147 million crypto scheme Control-Finance Ltd, which defrauded more than 1,000 investors to launder at least 22,858 BTC.

The CFTC besides mentioned a civil case against Jon Barry Thompson, who was accused of a $7 million BTC-related fraud, and Joseph Kim, who was accused of misappropriating Bitcoin and Litecoin (LTC) from several people and fined $i.1 million. The document connected:

"The Segmentation successfully litigated the cases involving digital avails it had previously charged, obtaining, among other things, rulings affirming the Commission's potency to prosecute fraud and manipulation involving digital avails that satisfy the statutory definition of a commodity."

The CFTC filed 69 enforcement deportment, which was slightly higher than the five-year average of 67.5.

New CFTC chairman calls for a principled approach toward crypto

Earlier in November, CFTC chairman Heath Tarbert called for "principles-based regulation" for cryptocurrencies. The chairman said that such an approach involves moving away from detailed rules to relying more than on high-level and "broadly-stated principles" to ascertain standards for regulated firms and products.

In tardily Oct 2022, the committee granted its fintech inquiry unit LabCFTC status as an contained operating office. Following the elevation, the CFTC's fintech hub started reporting direct to Tarbert. In the proclamation, Tarbert noted:

"Blockchain, digital assets, and other developments hold great promise for our economic system. Now is the time for LabCFTC to play an even greater role as we work to develop and write the rules for these transformative new products."