Crypto-related lawsuits increase by 46% in 2022, according to new research

A new study from HedgewithCrypto has analysed crypto lawsuits from both the SEC and other class action suits to reveal how many crypto lawsuits have been filed each year since 2018, and how crypto lawsuits have increased in the last five years.

2022 had the most crypto-related lawsuits ever, with a total of 41 suits being filed, increasing by 46% since 2021. 19 of these were filed by the SEC and 22 came in the form of class-action securities lawsuits. The most recent scandal occurred in December following the collapse of the FTX trading platform and the former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried currently being on $250 million bail whilst he faces various charges that could result in a maximum sentence of 115 years in prison.

2020 saw the second-largest amount of crypto lawsuits being filed since 2018, with a total of 34 lawsuits and an increase of almost 62% from the previous year. As cryptocurrency was booming back in 2020, the value of Bitcoin rose from $7,175 on January 1st to $28,985 on New Year’s Eve, an increase of over 300%. The SEC launched a few high-profile suits this year too, one of which was against John McAfee, the late businessman who was charged with non-disclosure of payments when promoting a crypto product.

2018 saw a grand total of 30 crypto lawsuits being filed, too. Despite crypto usage being far less widespread than in 2021, a total of 30 SEC and class action lawsuits occurred in the United States, with a slight majority (16) being filed by the SEC. A major case brought by the SEC in 2018 was against Paragon Coin inc due to a “legal mistake”. The legal mistake in question was an unregistered initial coin offering (ICO) of its digital tokens, which raised approximately $12 million from investors.

FURTHER FINDINGS
Unregistered crypto assets were the most common issue in crypto lawsuits filed by the SEC since 2018, with almost half of all lawsuits being related to this type of crime.
Between 2018 and 2022 crypto lawsuits have increased overall by over 40%, with 30 lawsuits filed in 2018 compared to 41 in 2022.