Continuing to increase its pressure on the crypto money industry, the US Securities and Exchange Commission made a new move today.
In the news yesterday, the Bittrex executive said that the SEC had sent them a Wells notice.
Making a statement today, the SEC announced that it has filed a lawsuit against cryptocurrency platform Bittrex and its co-founder and former CEO, William Shihara, of operating an unregistered securities exchange.
The SEC Bittrex filed its complaint with the US District Court for the Western District of Washington.
“….Since at least 2014, Bittrex has stood out as a platform that facilitates the trading of cryptocurrencies, which are securities.
From 2017 to 2022, Bittrex serves investors, including U.S. investors, among other things, as a broker, clearing and clearing agency, with at least $1.3 billion in transaction fees without registering any of these activities with the SEC. got it…”
SEC chairman Gary Gensler commented on the Bittrex complaint:
“Today’s action once again makes it clear that crypto markets suffer not from a lack of regulatory clarity, but from a lack of regulatory compliance.
As claimed in our complaint, Bittrex and the regulators it works with knew the rules that apply to them, and went to great lengths to avoid those rules.
In addition, as alleged, Bittrex, as an exchange, broker-dealer, and clearing agency, has also refrained from registering and complying with US securities laws.”
The SEC complaint also claimed that altcoins named OMG, DASH, ALGO, TKN, NGC, IHT were traded as securities on Bittrex.
