BitConnect is just one of the 90 cases the SEC and state regulators have launched during the past 24 months. The investigations come amid a two-year period in which cryptocurrency prices swung from all-time highs to steep lows.

One of the allures of cryptocurrencies — anonymity — is the reason the SEC and state regulators are expected to have little success returning any lost money. The WSJ mentioned comments SEC Chairman Jay Clayton made last year, in which he warned the SEC may not be effective in going after scammers and recovering funds invested in digital tokens. Part of the reason, Clayton said at the time, is that some of the proceeds end up outside the U.S.

https://www.pymnts.com/news/security-and-risk/2018/sec-cryptocurrency-bitcoin-scam/