On January 16, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Whistleblower Program released its Annual Report for the FY2025. The program only approved 2 whistleblower awards, totaling $4.6 million, out of approximately $16 million in sanctions. This is a big drop from FY2024, when the CFTC awarded 12 whistleblowers a total of $42 million, out of sanctions of around $162 million. The drop is not due to fewer tips, as the CFTC received 1,697 TCRs, only 47 fewer in 2025 than in 2024.
“The CFTC’s whistleblower program is in crisis. Its failure to process cases or pay awards is troubling and is undermining Congressional intent,” said Stephen M. Kohn, a founding partner at Kohn, Kohn and Colapinto and Chairman of the Board at National Whistleblower Center. “Despite the fact that the Commission has $212 million in a fund to pay whistleblowers, last year they only awarded two whistleblowers a total of $4.6 million. This is ten times lower than the number of awards paid in FY 2024.”
Fraud complaints, including but not limited to Ponzi schemes and crypto scams, made up 73% of all Form TCRs submitted by whistleblowers in FY 2025. Technical complaints, such as violations of recordkeeping, registration, and reporting, accounted for 16%, and non-fraud or disruptive trading, including spoofing, trading on nonpublic information, and false statements accounted for 11%. Crypto fraud, characterized by fraudulent representations of investment returns and customers’ inability to withdraw funds, remained the most common type of complaint. The CFTC noted that it received complaints from a variety of countries, with the most common submissions coming from the U.S., Canada, and the United Kingdom.
“In the past, the CFTC’s whistleblower program helped protect consumers and fight fraud in commodities markets, like oil price manipulation and cryptocurrency fraud,” added Kohn. “The program needs the full support of the new CFTC Chairman.”
As of September 30, 2025, the balance of the Consumer Protection Fund was $212.7 million. Since the program’s inception in 2010, the CFTC has collected monetary sanctions of $3.2 billion and has granted $390 million in total awards across 55 orders. Further, the report highlighted the program’s reach, noting that 30% of open investigations involve CFTC whistleblowers.
“Despite the negative trends, whistleblowers remain critical to detecting complex financial fraud,” Kohn stressed. He noted the report raises concerns about award processing and enforcement and highlights the need for adequate staffing and sufficient enforcement resources. “Maintaining strong financial incentives is pivotal to preserving the program’s role in maintaining market integrity,” Kohn concluded.
