Billions paid in cryptocurrency penalties since Bitcoin’s birth

US regulators imposed $2.5 billion in penalties on the cryptocurrency industry since Bitcoin’s birth in 2009, according to researcher Elliptic.

Securities and Exchange Commission actions accounted for the lion’s share, or $1.69 billion, Elliptic found. Commodity Futures Trading Commission penalties ranked second at $624 million. Most were imposed for firms offering unregistered securities and defrauding investors.

The bulk of the penalties came last year, when Telegram Group Inc. and its wholly owned subsidiary TON Issuer Inc. settled SEC charges for violating federal securities laws and agreed to return more than $1.2 billion to investors and to pay an $18.5 million civil penalty. Telegram didn’t deny or admit wrongdoing.