1. Increase in SEC penalties and enforcements
2. Market and technology updates
3. Cryptocurrency market indicators

With the growing popularity of digital assets, the crackdowns by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) are also growing. Over the past few quarters, more than 100 crypto-based companies have faced lawsuits from the SEC.

Increase in SEC penalties and enforcements

Recent data states that crackdown and enforcement actions against the firms providing crypto services grew by 3,000% in 2024 compared to 2023. One of the most significant actions by the SEC was a $4.47 Billion settlement with the collapsed Terraform Labs and Do Kwon at the end of Q2, 2024. Social Capital reports that from 2013 to 2024, the SEC has collected $7.42 billion in fines; however, 60% ($4.68 billion) of this amount was collected in 2024. The reported total fine in 2023 was $150.26 Million, which reached $4.68 Billion in 2024 with a massive growth of 3018%. The report further adds that the total fine collected by the SEC is from 11 crypto-based firms. Terraform Labs & Do Kwon has been struck with the highest fine in crypto history, followed by the fine imposed on Telegram and Ton User Inc. in 2019.

Market and technology updates

In an X post dated September 06, 2024, Durov Pavel, the founder of Telegram, announced that the total number of premium users on the platform had reached the milestone of 10 million. The post adds that the platform is removing some old features, such as the People Nearby feature allegedly used by scammers and other bad actors, amounting to 0.1% of total telegram users. “We’ve also disabled new media uploads to Telegraph, our standalone blogging tool, which seems to have been misused by anonymous actors,” the post additionally quotes.

Cryptocurrency market indicators

As per the data from CryptoSlam.io, CryptoPunks #3968 is sold for $1,278,397.13 (550.00 ETH), making it the NFT sold for the highest price followed by Paraluni Perpetual Bond #886 traded for $129,337. When writing, the cryptocurrency market capitalization was $2.01 Trillion, with a surge of 3.80% in the past 24 hours. Despite intraday growth, the market cap is 3.50% down weekly and more than 6.50% in the past 30 days. As of writing, Bitcoin trading prices were 1.20% down compared to the previous trading session, trading at $56,822. BTC’s press time trading prices are below 20, 50, 100, and 200 days EMA. Popcat, Fantom, Bittensor, Dogwifhat, and Aave top the intraday gainers’ list. However, the loser list is led by Helium, followed by Gala, Monera, PayPal USD, and Starknet. The fear and greed index powered by CoinMarketCap is at 46, reflecting neutrality. Although the week earlier, the meter constantly mirrored fear and bear dominance. In the past 24 hours, Tether was one of the most traded, followed by Bitcoin, Ethereum, USDC, and First Digital USD.

The severe measures and significant fines by the SEC in 2024 highlight the growing focus on cryptocurrency market regulation. Meanwhile, the market continues to evolve, offering new opportunities and demonstrating significant fluctuations.