The US Securities and Exchange Commission has filed a lawsuit against ShapeShift, a cryptocurrencycurrency exchange that was originally situated in Denver, Colorado but has since halted operations in the US.
The SEC claims ShapeShift was an unregistered trader of securities-like cryptocurrencycurrency prior to 2021
The SEC stated in its filing on Tuesday that it accepts ShapeShift’s proposed settlement, which includes a $275,000 fine and a pledge from the company to comply with the Securities Exchange Act going forward.
ShapeShift gave its customers access to “at least 79 cryptocurrencycurrency assets,” some of which were designated as investment contracts.
However, it did not specify which digital assets were deemed securities. According to the lawsuit, ShapeShift operated as an unregistered dealer in the United States from 2014 until 2021, which is identical to charges against other American cryptocurrency exchanges such as Coinbase, Kraken, and Binance.US.
The exchange regularly bought and sold cryptocurrency assets for its accounts, kept inventory, and presented itself to customers as capable of exchanging the cryptocurrency assets offered on ShapeShift.io.