Summary
• The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has sued Bittrex, a global cryptocurrency exchange and its ex-CEO William Shihara over offering unregistered securities.
• SEC’s complaint alleges that the platform offered securities tokens such as DASH, OMG and ALGO.
• The news of the lawsuit caused Bitcoin and crypto prices to dip on Monday, with BTC price breaking below $30,000.
SEC Sues Crypto Exchange Bittrex & its Ex-CEO
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed a lawsuit against Bittrex, one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges. In the charges announced on Monday, the SEC said it had also sued former CEO William Shihara for offering unregistered securities such as Dash, OMG Network (OMG), Algorand (ALGO), TokenCard (TKN), NGC and IHT.
Allegations Against Bittrex
According to SEC’s complaint, Bittrex has operated illegally since 2014 by offering these securities without properly registering as an exchange, broker or clearing agency. Furthermore, the entities failed to register their shared order book that brought together orders from buyers and sellers using non-discretionary methods under which they agreed to terms of a trade.
Crypto Market Reaction
The news sent shockwaves across the cryptocurrency market on Monday morning with Bitcoin dipping below $30k while Ethereum dropped just above $2080 at press time. Additionally, the total crypto market cap was down 2.9% to $1.3 trillion when this article went live.
Conclusion
The SEC’s lawsuit against Bittrex highlights why digital asset regulation is so important in protecting traders from fraudsters who may try to take advantage of them through unregistered tokens or other forms of investment schemes in the industry. This case serves as a reminder for all traders to stay vigilant when dealing in cryptocurrencies by ensuring only those platforms registered with regulators are used for trading activities