U.S. SEC Adjusts Crypto Enforcement Strategy, Dismisses Seven Cases and Shifts Focus to Cracking Down on Substantive Fraud

Gate News update: On April 8, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) made a major change to its enforcement strategy in the crypto-asset sector in fiscal year 2025. Starting in February 2025, the SEC gradually withdrew seven crypto-related enforcement actions brought by the previous commission, involving a certain CEX, a certain exchange, Cumberland DRW, Consensys, Dragonchain, and Balina, among others, on the grounds that the above cases lacked sufficient support under federal securities laws. At the same time, the SEC established a Network and Emerging Technologies Division, focusing on cracking down on securities trading violations involving blockchain technology, artificial intelligence, and cybersecurity. Regarding specific enforcement actions, the SEC filed lawsuits over the following cases: the New York crypto company Unicoin and its four executives are accused of making false statements that misled investors; PGI Global founder Ramil Palafox is accused of orchestrating a crypto and foreign-exchange fraud scheme totaling $198 million, and misappropriating more than $57 million; the founder of AI company Nate, Inc. is accused of illegally raising more than $42 million by falsely promoting its artificial intelligence capabilities.