SEC Charges Crypto Exchange Bittrex With Operating Unregistered Exchange, Broker, and Clearing Agency

April 17, 2023 Bitcoin.com

Bittrex Receives Wells Notice From SEC for Alleged Investor-Protection Law Violations

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US crypto exchange Bittrex faces potential action from SEC: Report

April 17, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Bittrex

Bittrex had already started winding down operations by the time it received a notice of potential action from the SEC, the general counsel said.

The United States-based cryptocurrency exchange Bittrex is reportedly facing potential action from the U.S. securities regulator despite preparing to shut down local operations.

The enforcement division of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is inclined to recommend the agency sue Bittrex over alleged violations related to investor protection, The Wall Street Journal reported on April 16.

The enforcement unit informed Bittrex about potential action from the SEC in March, Bittrex’s general counsel David Maria reportedly said. By that time, the Seattle-based crypto firm had already started the process of winding down its U.S. operations, the attorney stated.

In the notice of potential enforcement action — known as a Wells notice — the SEC wrote that Bittrex had violated laws by doing business as an exchange, broker-dealer and clearinghouse without registering with the regulator.

According to Bittrex’s general counsel, the company discussed with the SEC in late 2022 how to register its operations. The crypto firm found that there was no opportunity to follow the rules of the SEC without essentially ceasing all of its revenue-producing activities in the country.

Attorney Maria stressed that Bittrex’s inability to comply with the SEC rules was due to the agency not providing clear regulations for crypto in the first place. He stated:

“The lack of regulatory clarity here results in substantial costs and no certainty as to what can and can’t be offered.”

Bittrex is not aware whether the SEC is going to file a lawsuit now that the company is terminating operations in the United States, Maria said. If the agency decides to take action, Bittrex will litigate unless regulators “came with a reasonable settlement offer,” the counsel reportedly added.

The news came soon after Bittrex announced plans to stop all operations in the United States on March 31, citing the challenging regulatory and economic environment. The exchange advised U.S. customers to withdraw their funds by April 30, 2023.

Before it decided to leave the United States, Bittrex had faced some issues at home. In 2022, Bittrex agreed to pay more than $29 million in fines from the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control and Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. The settlement was related to sanctions violations in the Crimea region, Cuba, Iran, Sudan and Syria between 2014 and 2017.

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Bitcoin’s banking crisis surge will ‘attract more institutions’: ARK’s Cathie Wood

March 22, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Ark Invest

Cathie Wood was impressed that Bitcoin “moved in a very different way” compared to the equity market in response to the recent banking crisis.

The value proposition of Bitcoin (BTC) is on full display amid the current banking crisis, which will only “attract more institutions” to the BTC market over time, ARK Invest CEO Cathie Wood believes.

Wood shared her thoughts on BTC’s recent price surge in a March 21 Bloomberg interview, stating its price behavior through the crisis “is going to attract more institutions.”

“The fact that Bitcoin moved in a very different way from the equity markets, in particular, was quite instructive,” she added.

ARK Investment Management CEO Cathie Wood says the behavior of the Bitcoin's price through the latest banking turmoil will attract more institutions and investors https://t.co/2d8cT7SX3n pic.twitter.com/Eaymh05lhq
— Bloomberg Crypto (@crypto) March 21, 2023

Institutional interest in Bitcoin may have already arrived according to Oliver Linch, the CEO of Seattle-based crypto exchange Bittrex.

Linch noted in a March 21 interview on The Wolf Of All Streets Podcast that many big banks bought into crypto as an investment product well before the recent banking crisis:

“The big talking point of this bear market is institutional interest in crypto. Every big bank now has a substantive crypto desk, not just for trading, but for partnerships as well.”

However, he noted there’s still a divide between traditional financial institutions and crypto firms which has caused headwinds in institutional adoption over the last few months.

“Historically, those big players have been the biggest drivers of innovation,” he said, before claiming the two sides are currently “stuck in a bit of a rut” and the “big change” won’t happen until they stop fighting for superiority.

“It’s not crypto versus Goldman Sachs or crypto versus institutions. It’s a race to who can do crypto better.”

As for the impact on Bitcoin’s price from the institutional interest, Wood explained in the interview that ARK Invest’s $1-1.5 million BTC price prediction by 2030 was made on the back of an institutional investor BTC allocation analysis, which estimates most firms to allocate between 2.5% to 6.5% to BTC in their investment portfolios.

“These are the sorts of allocations that they would have made to emerging, new categories of assets like real estate in the 70s and small caps in the 80s and 90s,” Wood added.

*ARK Invest estimates the BTC price towards $1.5 million will be pushed by institutional investors allocating between 2.5-6.5% of their portfolio into BTC. Source:* *ARK Invest*

Linch, on the other hand, believes that “aggressive” institutional adoption will come when opportunities become more easily identifiable:

“Show them a way that it can be done and it can make them money and I guarantee you they won’t stand in the way of that. They’ll be pedal to the metal to exploit that opportunity.”

Positive sentiment has surrounded Bitcoin following the collapses of Silvergate Bank, Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank. The BTC price has surged 43.6% since its most recent low on March 11, compared to a 25.3% increase in the broader crypto market over that time, according to CoinGecko data.

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Protocol Labs, Chainalysis and Bittrex add to crypto layoff season

February 4, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Bittrex

Crypto execs suggested that the "extremely challenging" times forced them to cut jobs in order to “weather this extended" crypto winter.

Several crypto firms have made job cuts this week amid the ongoing crypto winter, retaining “impactful” employees as they prepare for a “longer downturn.”

At least 216 jobs were slashed between three crypto firms – open-source software laboratory Protocol Labs, blockchain data firm Chainalysis and U.S. cryptocurrency exchange Bittrex, with reductions of 89, 83 and 44 employees respectively.

Juan Benet, CEO of Protocol Labs, the parent company of Filecoin (FIL), announced the job cuts in a blog post on Feb. 3 stating that the company has had to focus its headcount “against the most impactful and business critical efforts.”

He stated that the company's decision to cut “89 roles,” approximately 21% of its workforce, was to ensure it is well positioned to “weather this extended winter.”

Benet suggested that the company must “prepare for a longer downturn,” given it has been an “extremely challenging” time for the crypto industry.

Meanwhile Bittrex employees were informed by CEO Richie Lai over email on Feb. 1 that the company has made a reduction to its workforce to “ensure the long-term viability" of the company.

The email was leaked via Twitter on Feb. 2, in which Lai stated that despite the leadership team “working aggressively” to reduce expenses and increase efficiencies over the last several months, the efforts have not produced the "results necessary."

Lai added that the market conditions have forced the company to reset their strategy and balance its “investments with the new economic environment.”

According to Washington State employment data on Feb. 2 it was revealed that Bittrex cut 83 jobs.

Maddie Kennedy, director of communications at Chainalysis, told Forbes on Feb. 1 that those “primarily in sales” at the company were let go, as 44 of its 900 employees, approximately 4.8% of the workforce, were slashed.

These layoffs come after news that at least 2,900 staff were cut across 14 crypto firms in January.

Coinbase had the largest layoffs amongst those firms, cutting 950 of its staff on Jan. 10.

Meanwhile competitor exchanges Crypto.com, Luno and Huobi had reductions of approximately 500, 330 and 320 staff respectively.

Cointelegraph reached out for comment from Protocol Labs, Chainalysis and Bittrex but did not receive a response by the time of publication.

Bittrex

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