The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) broke the record for penalties and fines from its enforcement actions in the fiscal year 2024 amid its substantial settlement with crypto firm Terraform Labs.

In a Nov. 22 annual report, the agency revealed that it had net $8.2 billion in financial remedies by Sept. 30 , making this haul the “highest amount” the regulator has ever received.

More than half of the sum came from the regulator’s court case won against Terraform and its former CEO, Do Kwon, who paid a $4.47 billion settlement.

Although this is a historical high for the SEC, without the $4.47 billion settlement, the regulator would have brought in $3.72 billion — the lowest it would have collected since 2013.

Australia begins consultation on OECD crypto reporting framework

On Nov. 21, the Australian Treasury Department released its consultation paper on implementing the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF). 

The OECD aims to standardize the rules for tax data collection on crypto asset transactions and sharing that information among tax authorities.

The two options offered for implementing CARF include a tailored approach that targets the needs of the Australian Taxation Office or adopting the framework into Australian tax law.

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Shanghai judge says cryptocurrency is a commodity, legal to own

On Nov. 20, a judge in the People’s Court of Songjiang District in Shanghai, China, released an article on the court’s WeChat account about the legality of digital currency issuance in the country.

Judge Sun Jie’s article said that digital currency does not hold the status of a fiat currency but is instead considered a virtual commodity with “property attributes.”

Jie said that “although it is not illegal for individuals to simply hold virtual currency,” commercial entities cannot participate in virtual currency investment transactions or issue tokens “on their own.”

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Court prolongs Tornado Cash developer Pertsev’s pre-trial detention

Alexey Pertsev, the crypto mixing protocol Tornado Cash developer, will remain in pre-trial detention after the court decided to extend the period of his detection.

On Nov. 21, Pertsev expressed his disappointment in an X post, stating that he remains “determined to continue fighting for justice” despite the court decision “significantly” complicating his ability to prepare the appeal.

Multiple Democratic Party members of the US House of Representatives demanded answers from Treasury officials on why the Tornado Cash services are still active after being sanctioned in 2022.

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