Here's the list of SEC crypto enforcement actions.[1] They start about two or three cases a month. 30 cases so far this year. At first, they focused on the out and out scams. Then, they shut down the ICO industry by sending out letters asking why each ICO wasn't registered as a security. Then they went after some of the NFT guys. They went after some paid influencers. Now they're going after the bigger exchanges. Plus, along the way, the usual out and out scams: "fraud for misappropriating at least $12 million of offering proceeds to purchase luxury goods including sports cars, watches, and a 555-carat black diamond..."
The SEC's position is simple: the same rules apply to crypto as to other financial products. After FTX, nobody is seriously opposing that any more. The "crypto is special" argument is dead.
The scams are not even original - the scams are Ponzi schemes, pump and dump, front-running, insider trading, and just plain stealing customer assets. All of those were known before 1900.
The crypto crowd isn't really that innovative.
The SEC's position is simple: the same rules apply to crypto as to other financial products. After FTX, nobody is seriously opposing that any more. The "crypto is special" argument is dead. The scams are not even original - the scams are Ponzi schemes, pump and dump, front-running, insider trading, and just plain stealing customer assets. All of those were known before 1900. The crypto crowd isn't really that innovative.
[1] https://www.sec.gov/spotlight/cybersecurity-enforcement-acti...