SEC is committed to monitoring the activities of digital Asset firms
16 Dec 2019 #Ethereum
United States SEC chairman, Jay Clayton, has disclosed that the commission is paying strong attention to promising blockchain tech companies. He said his organization is seriously watching the activities of these companies to protect investors.
In a testimony he gave at the Senate Committee on Banking, Clayton admitted that the SEC is closely monitoring the development of startup and promising companies in the blockchain space. He further pointed out that the commission is dedicating a huge crunch of time and resources to make sure the investors of these companies do not get ripped off.
According to him, the commission knows the importance of these crypto companies in capital formation and innovation. But at the same time, it’s not relenting on its efforts to protect the interest of US investors.
In his assertion, the SEC had taken a proactive regulatory approach that will foster both capital formation and innovation in the industry, while protecting the market and the industry.
Clayton also revealed that the SEC had placed security rules on digital asset companies that have strayed in their commitment to investors. This year alone, the commission had fined several crypto companies for violating registration requiems and engaging in fraudulent activities.
Clayton also said SEC filed charges against companies who unlawfully promoted their ICOs and deceived investors. It has also sued firms that used unlawful digital asset platforms for their crypto dealings. According to Clayton, the SEC is not relenting on its efforts to sanitize the industry for genuine digital assets companies and traders.
He said, “emergency action to block an alleged unregistered, ongoing, public digital token offering in the United States that has raised more than $1.7 billion of investor funds.”
SEC blocked an unlawful digital token
To prove its point, SEC recently filed a case against a digital assets company that unlawfully offered tokens to raise about $1.7 billion. There is another case against KIK for its unlawful registration of its ICO, which raised more than $100 million. SEC is bothered about investor funds, which is why it has increased its scrutiny efforts on these digital companies.
SEC throwing its weight behind genuine companies
According to Clayton, SEC is not only there to punish offenders. It has also offered its support to digital companies that operate within the rules. To buttress its points, SEC recently issued an approval letter to TurnKey Inc. It stated that since the business-travel startup is operating within its limit, TurnKey’s tokens will not be regarded as securities. On a similar note, SEC gave Paxos Trust no-action relief to complete broker-dealers trades on its blockchain platform.
Besides, last week SEC gave NYDIG an approval to offer shares to institutional investors for a new investment platform that’s focused on Bitcoin futures. These are some of the companies the SEC has supported because they didn’t break any rules. The commission has reiterated that digital asset companies that are operating within the regulations have nothing to worry about. The commission is only interested in those violating the rules and operating outside the provisions of the commission.
