The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) says most of the tips entered into the Whistleblower Program in 2023 related to cryptocurrencies.
In a statement, CFTC Commissioner Christy Goldsmith Romero said the organization received a record 1,530 tips through the Whistleblower Program this year.
“As a former Inspector General who knows firsthand the importance of whistleblowers, I strongly support whistleblowers and the CFTC Whistleblower Program, and am very proud of the program’s outsized results.”
The Whistleblower Program provides monetary rewards to those who voluntarily provide the CFTC with information regarding violations of the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) that have resulted in successful enforcement actions involving monetary penalties in excess of $1 million.
Whistleblowers receive between 10% and 30% of the monetary penalties that wrongdoers pay, and the CFTC has provided nearly $350 million in rewards to date for more than $3 billion in enforcement penalties. That amount includes the $16 million awarded this year, with two whistleblowers receiving more than $15 million for the information and assistance they provided in what became successful enforcement cases.
“The program provides confidential protection to whistleblowers. The program also recognizes that incentives in the form of monetary rewards increase the number of tips from whistleblowers.”
Romero says that in 2023, whistleblowers mainly reported violations related to digital assets.
“The majority of tips received this year related to crypto – an area where there is still widespread fraud and other illegality.”
The statement comes as the CFTC goes after several crypto companies this year. In March, the regulator filed a complaint against Binance, alleging that the world’s largest crypto exchange had failed to properly register with the US commodities watchdog.
The agency has also filed enforcement actions against decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols ZeroEx, Opyn and Deridex for offering illegal derivatives trading.
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