Bittrex to pay $24 million to settle SEC charges
Bittrex to pay $24 million to settle SEC charges
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced that crypto asset trading platform Bittrex has agreed to settle charges that it provided services as an unregistered national securities exchange, broker, and clearing agency.
As part of the agreement, Bittrex will pay $14.4 million in disgorgement, $4 million in pre-judgment interest, and a $5.6 million civil penalty, for a total of $24 million.
It's worth noting that the agreement to settle the charges also covers Bittrex Co-Founder William Shihara, who was the company's CEO during the time it violated U.S. law.
As part of the settlement agreement, the defendants neither admit nor deny the SEC's allegations, according to an SEC press release.
"Today's settlement makes clear that you cannot escape liability by simply changing labels or altering descriptions because what matters is the economic realities of those offerings. I am grateful to the SEC staff for aggressively pursuing non-compliance in the crypto industry, resolving this matter, and bringing additional relief to harmed investors," said Gurbir S. Grewal, Director of the SEC's Division of Enforcement.
Recall that in April, Bittrex announced its withdrawal from the U.S. cryptocurrency market and, a month later, filed for bankruptcy of its U.S. branch. At the same time, the SEC filed charges against Bittrex for offering U.S. investors cryptoassets that were sold under the guise of securities.
See also: The Bank of Canada issued a report on the prospects of CBDC in the country.
