SEC Charges Bittrex Over Operating Unregistered Securities Exchange

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged cryptocurrency exchange platform Bittrex with operating as an unregistered national securities exchang.

According to a press release issued by the SEC on Thursday, the regulator’s enforcement division alleged that Bittrex had “failed to register as a national securities exchange under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934” despite providing a marketplace which allowed trading of digital assets that fell under the definition of securities.

Bittrex allegedly carried out the activities between December 19, 2017 to October 1, 2019. The digital assets traded on its platform included gram tokens and cryptocurrency security tokens.

H.C. Stein, associate regional director of the SEC’s New York Regional Office said that “platforms that engage in the activity of a national securities exchange must register with the SEC or operate pursuant to an exemption”.

He further added:

"By allowing investors to purchase and trade securities on its platform without registering as an exchange, Bittrex deprived investors of important protections that exchanges provide."

According to media reports, Bittrex has agreed to pay over $300,000 in disgorgement and penalties for carrying out unregistered activities for over 18 months.

We, at CoinGape have reached out to Bittrex for further comments but no response was received until our last update.