In April, the SEC charged Bittrex Inc and its former CEO, William Shihara, with operating an unregistered national securities exchange, broker, and clearing agency.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed a complaint in federal court in Seattle alleging that Bittrex failed to register with the agency. Bittrex agreed to pay $24 million to resolve the claim.
In April, the SEC charged Bittrex Inc and its former CEO, William Shihara, with operating an unregistered national securities exchange, broker, and clearing agency.
The SEC also alleged that Bittrex Global GmbH, the exchange’s international subsidiary, failed to register as a national securities exchange in conjunction with its operation of a single shared order book alongside Bittrex.
The trading platform for cryptocurrency declared bankruptcy in May. The agreement calls for the firm and Bittrex Global to pay the $5.6 million fine and give over $18.4 million in allegedly illegal profit within 60 days of the filing of a liquidation plan in the bankruptcy case.
The firms and Shihara consented to a cease-and-desist order prohibiting them from breaking US securities laws. They refused to respond to the SEC’s charges.
A Bittrex spokesman stated that the company was “delighted” to have achieved a settlement and that further information will be available after the court confirmed the arrangement.
Previously, the Seattle-based company denied that securities were traded on its platform. Bittrex Global has said that it has no customers in the United States.
