{"id":21023,"date":"2023-08-10T23:12:25","date_gmt":"2023-08-10T23:12:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\/crypto\/sec-announces-24m-settlement-for-case-against-bittrex-and-its-former-ceo\/"},"modified":"2023-08-10T23:12:27","modified_gmt":"2023-08-10T23:12:27","slug":"sec-announces-24m-settlement-for-case-against-bittrex-and-its-former-ceo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\/crypto\/sec-announces-24m-settlement-for-case-against-bittrex-and-its-former-ceo\/","title":{"rendered":"SEC announces $24M settlement for case against Bittrex and its former CEO"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

\n

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has announced an agreement with crypto trading platform Bittrex and co-founder and former CEO William Shihara for operating an unregistered exchange.<\/p>\n

In an Aug. 10 notice, the SEC said Bittrex and Bittrex Global agreed to pay $14.4 million in disgorgement, $4 million in prejudgment interest, and $5.6 million in civil penalties to settle the legal dispute with the federal regulator. The agreement is still subject to court approval. <\/p>\n

\u201cFor years, Bittrex worked with token issuers to ‘scrub’ their online statements of any indicia that they were investment contracts \u2014 all in an effort to evade the federal securities laws,\u201d said SEC enforcement director Gurbir Grewal. \u201cToday\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Today we announced that crypto asset trading platform Bittrex Inc. and its co-founder and former CEO, William Shihara, agreed to settle charges that they operated an unregistered national securities exchange, broker, and clearing agency.<\/p>\n

\u2014 U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (@SECGov) August 10, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In a statement provided to Cointelegraph, Shihara called the settlement a \u201cgood outcome\u201d, adding the United States needed to \u201c[strike] a balance between fostering innovation, encouraging entrepreneurs and the need to protect consumers\u201d. Shihara was the CEO of Bittrex from its founding in 2014 to his departure in 2019.<\/p>\n

The SEC\u2019s complaint filed in April claimed Bittrex and Shihara operated an unregistered national securities exchange, broker, and clearing agency. The financial regulator also filed a separate enforcement action against Bittrex Global for \u201cits operation of a single shared order book along with Bittrex\u201d.<\/p>\n

Related: <\/em><\/strong>SEC is \u2018wrongfully attempting\u2019 to police crypto markets \u2014 Paradigm counsel<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The U.S. Department of the Treasury\u2019s Office of Foreign Assets Control and Financial Crimes Enforcement Network took enforcement actions against Bittrex in October 2022, resulting in the firm agreeing to a $29-million settlement. The exchange announced in March it was planning to shut down operations in the United States in April \u2014 claiming the move was due to the country\u2019s regulatory environment \u2014 and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in May.<\/p>\n

As of Aug. 10, the SEC has legal cases pending against crypto firms including Binance, Coinbase, Ripple Labs and Terraform Labs. Many U.S. lawmakers and industry leaders have criticized the agency for taking a \u201cregulation by enforcement\u201d approach to crypto.<\/p>\n

Magazine: <\/em><\/strong>Crypto regulation: Does SEC Chair Gary Gensler have the final say?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n