Mango DAO and Mango Markets have reached a settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regarding charges related to the unregistered sale of MNGO tokens. The settlement involves a total payment of $700,000 in penalties, which will be shared among Mango DAO, Mango Labs, and Blockworks Foundation. The SEC's charges highlighted that these entities engaged in the unregistered offer and sale of governance tokens on the Mango Markets platform, which is considered a violation of securities laws. In addition to the penalties, the involved parties have agreed to destroy their MNGO tokens. The SEC emphasized that the designation of a project as a "DAO" does not exempt it from regulatory scrutiny. Jorge G. Tenreiro, the acting chief of the Crypto Assets and Cyber Unit, stated that the underlying activities and the individuals behind the project remain subject to registration requirements, regardless of the use of automated or open-source software. The SEC's complaint also identified SOL, a cryptocurrency sold on Mango Markets, as a security. This classification aligns with previous assertions made by the SEC in a separate lawsuit against the crypto exchange Binance, where SOL and other cryptocurrencies were similarly categorized. This settlement comes in the wake of significant issues faced by Mango Markets, including a major exploit that resulted in a loss of approximately $116 million, attributed to Avraham Eisenberg, who has since been convicted for his actions. The resolution of these charges marks a critical moment for Mango DAO and its associated entities as they navigate the complex regulatory landscape surrounding cryptocurrencies and digital assets.

Avi Eisenberg, a crypto trader who manipulated Solana's Mango Markets in October 2022, was convicted of commodities fraud and manipulation by a U.S. federal jury. Eisenberg manipulated the DEX using collateral pumping to borrow $110 million from Mango without repaying it. His legal team argued that his actions were completely legal by the rules of the smart contracts, but the prosecution successfully asserted that he acted with fraudulent intentions.

The SEC is seeking over $5 billion from Do Kwon and Terraform Labs for penalties and disgorgement after a guilty verdict for defrauding investors. The enforcement action also involves barring Kwon from executive roles in any securities issue.

DeFi is being tested in legal battles. Avi Eisenberg leveraged Mango Markets' code to extract $110 million, arguing that because the code permitted it, he didn't commit a crime. At the same time, the SEC's case against Uniswap Labs could determine how decentralized DeFi can be and whether the vision of a fully autonomous, code-based financial system is realizable.

The SEC has charged Rari Capital, a DeFi platform, and its founders with misleading investors and engaging in unregistered broker activity, alleging that the platform falsely promoted features of its crypto investment products and conducted unregistered securities offerings. Rari Capital and its successors settled the charges, agreeing to penalties and legal restrictions without admitting or denying the allegations.

The SEC and ShapeShift have settled charges for operating an unregistered exchange and listing cryptocurrencies the SEC deemed securities.

Galois Capital, a prominent advisory firm and Crypto Twitter presence, was fined $225,000 by the SEC for failing to comply with requirements related to the safeguarding of client assets. Certain assets were not held with a qualified custodian. Over half of the fund's assets were lost in the FTX collapse in 2022.

DCG and its CEO Barry Silbert have sought to dismiss a lawsuit from New York's Attorney General, Letitia James. The legal action alleges DCG and its subsidiary Genesis Global Capital defrauded investors connected to Gemini's Earn product and Genesis following the collapse of crypto entities Three Arrows Capital and FTX. The move follows DCG's opposition to a proposed settlement deal from Genesis with the NYAG last month.

UniSwap was fined $175K by CFTC for providing access to illegal crypto derivatives trading.

The Manta L2 chain saw a $250 million decrease in total value over the past week after it enabled withdrawals for STONE and wUSDM. These two assets were used for airdrop farming during Manta's New Paradigm campaign, which rewarded users with MANTA tokens for bridging onto the chain. Co-founder Kenny Li remains optimistic, promising technical upgrades and campaigns to reignite interest in the chain.

The SEC is seeking $2 billion in penalties from Ripple Labs. This is part of an ongoing conflict where the SEC accused Ripple of selling an unregistered security by raising $1.3 billion from the sale of XRP. Ripple's CEO critiqued the SEC's unjust behavior, citing court decisions in favor of Ripple.

A federal judge has ordered Ripple to pay a $125 million civil penalty in its lawsuit with the SEC. Zora has launched a major protocol upgrade, integrating with Uniswap to create on-chain secondary markets that allow creators to earn royalties from trades after a mint ends. Ethena Labs expanded its synthetic dollar protocol, Ethena, to Solana to improve the scalability and stability of USDe.