Crypto Centralized Exchange Bittrex Will Pay $24M in Settlement With the SEC

Admin August 11, 2023.

Other U.S. regulatory organizations have also been investigating Bittrex

Bittrex, a US cryptocurrency exchange, and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of the United States reached a $24 million settlement.

The SEC had earlier in April filed a lawsuit against Bittrex and its former CEO William Shihara, alleging that the exchange had been operating illegally as a securities exchange, broker, and clearinghouse.

The agency claimed that between 2017 and 2022, Bittrex made more than $1.3 billion in revenue illegally. The SEC further asserted that Bittrex instructed cryptocurrency issuers to delete statements that would suggest violations of securities laws.

In accordance with the settlement, Bittrex must pay $14.4 million in disgorgement, prejudgment interest of $4 million, and civil money penalties of $5.6 million. It's noteworthy that Bittrex did not confirm or deny the SEC's allegations.

Other U.S. regulatory organizations have also been investigating Bittrex, which filed for bankruptcy in May and shut down its U.S. operations.

It received a $53 million fine in 2022 from the U.S. Treasury Department for alleged violations of several American sanctions programmes, marking it the highest fine ever levied against a cryptocurrency company by the Treasury Department. Over $24 million and $29 million in fines were imposed by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), respectively.