According to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of the United States, it has initiated action against yet another cryptocurrency company. This time, Bittrex, a cryptocurrency exchange, and its former CEO have caught the attention of the enforcement agency.
According to a news statement, for failing to register as a national securities exchange, clearing agency, and broker, the SEC is pursuing legal action against the cryptocurrency exchange and its former leader.
William Shihara, also a co-founder of the exchange, was named the former CEO. “The SEC also charged Bittrex, Inc.’s foreign affiliate, Bittrex Global GmbH, for failing to register as a national securities exchange in connection with its operation of a single shared order book along with Bittrex”, the press release further stated.
Significantly, the commission delivered a Wells Notice to the exchange before filing a lawsuit, the Wall Street Journal said. The notice was also sent before the exchange’s announcement that it would stop operating in the US. The exchange is anticipated to leave the market by this month’s end or April 30th, 2023.
Bittrex would go to court if the SEC did file a lawsuit unless it “came with a reasonable settlement offer,” the company’s chief counsel David Maria told the publication.
SEC enforcement action against several well-known cryptocurrency businesses has reverberated throughout the sector. Exchange platform Kraken declared in February that it was ending its staking program in the United States and paying $30 million to resolve SEC complaints.
Bittrex paid $30 million to the U.S. Treasury Department’s sanctions and money-laundering watchdogs in October in response to claims that the company’s compliance program was subpar between 2014 and 2017.
Requests for comment from Bittrex and the SEC were not immediately fulfilled.
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