(Bloomberg) -- Digital Currency Group and its subsidiary Genesis Global Capital settled Securities and Exchange Commission charges on Friday — the latest in a slew of crypto firms to do so as US regulators appear to clear their slates in the waining days of the Biden administration.
Agencies including the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Justice Department and the SEC have announced various settlements, charges or resolutions in at least six cases involving digital assets in the last week, according to a tally compiled by Bloomberg.
More than 100 enforcement actions were filed against crypto companies during Joe Biden’s term. Industry observers expect a different approach under President-elect Donald Trump, a one-time crypto critic turned booster. Trump has nominated crypto-friendly appointees for many key agency posts, vowed to change laws to make them more crypto friendly, and is expected to make crypto a national priority.
“If regulators are settling more crypto-related enforcement actions, it may very well be due to the incoming administration and the changes that the agencies are going to experience,” said Jonathan Groth, partner at DGIM Law. “Under the new administration, support may wane for dedicating large expenditures of time and resources to major enforcement actions focused on crypto.”
For the crypto companies that are agreeing to settlements, that may be a way to turn a new leaf as well.
“Settlement is always a good thing,” said Sahel Assar, practice group leader for blockchain and digital asset group at Buchanan, Ingersoll & Rooney. “Litigation is costly, you want to be able to just settle, move on and start on a fresh note. Rather than linger, better to close out and repurpose under an administration that’s going to be much, much more friendly to this technology. It’s a way of dusting the past and getting ready for the future.”
The SEC didn’t immediately return a request for comment.
Some of the cases announced in the last week:
- The CFTC said the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York entered a consent order against Gemini crypto exchange that includes a permanent injunction, and requires Gemini to pay a $5 million fine.
- US Attorney Matthew Podolsky announced that exchange BitMEX was sentenced to a $100 million fine for violating the Bank Secrecy Act “by willfully failing to establish, implement, and maintain an adequate anti-money laundering (“AML”) and know-your-customer (“KYC”) program.”
- The CFTC announced the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida entered orders of final default judgment against Mosaic Exchange Ltd., a Pennsylvania limited liability company, and its owner “for running a fraudulent digital asset commodity scheme.”
- A federal grand jury in the Northern District of Georgia returned an indictment on Jan. 7 charging three Russian nationals for their involvement in operating the cryptocurrency mixing services Blender.io and Sinbad.io, per Jan. 10 announcement from the Justice Department.
- A cryptocurrency businessman who dubbed himself “The Godfather” and a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputy have agreed to plead guilty to federal criminal charges, including for their roles in a conspiracy that targeted multiple victims in Los Angeles.
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