The SEC says it has brought 56 court cases on crypto since 2017's DAO report

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has brought 56 court cases related to cryptocurrencies and ICOs since 2017, according to a new statement.

A list of "Select SEC Accomplishments" covering May 2017 to the present time includes a short section on crypto-related issues, highlighting the founding of the SEC Cyber Unit, which is focused on digital issues.

"[The SEC b]rought 56 cases involving ICOs, blockchain or distributed ledger technology, and/or digital assets since the July 2017 issuance of an investigative report regarding the offers and sales of digital assets," the agency said. "Among others, cases involved efforts to defraud investors through the use of digital asset securities as well as violations of the registration provisions of the federal securities laws in the offer and sale of digital asset securities."

That July 2017 release was the so-called DAO report, which examined the token issuance of the now-defunct, Ethereum-based funding vehicle TheDAO and set the tenor for the SEC's future actions on the ICO front.

The list also highlighted "18 suspected frauds involving blockchain or distributed ledger technology and/or digital assets."

As previously reported, federal regulators from the SEC as well as the Commodity Futures Trading Commission have doled out nearly $200 million in fines for crypto-related cases since 2014.

For the SEC, the busiest year for this activity was in 2019, according to data collected by The Block.