The US Securities and Exchange Commission has taken legal action against ShapeShift, a cryptocurrency exchange previously based in Denver, Colorado, which has ceased its operations in the United States.
The SEC alleges that ShapeShift operated as an unregistered dealer in connection with its operation of an online crypto asset trading platform.
In the filing made on Tuesday, the SEC indicated its acceptance of a settlement proposed by ShapeShift, which includes a $275,000 fine and a commitment from the company to comply with the Securities Exchange Act going forward.
ShapeShift provided its customers with access to “at least 79 crypto assets,” some of which were classified as investment contracts.
However, it did not specifically identify which digital assets were considered securities. The filing revealed that ShapeShift operated as an unregistered dealer in the U.S. from 2014 to 2021.
Last week, a U.S. court ruled that the trading of certain crypto assets on secondary markets, such as crypto exchanges, are securities transactions, which clashes with the view of the wider crypto industry.
The exchange regularly engaged in buying and selling crypto assets for its accounts, maintaining inventory, and presenting itself to customers as capable of trading the crypto assets available on ShapeShift.io.
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