Securities and Exchange Commission

Exclusively for new Crypto.com App users, unlock up to $500 worth of rewards in the most popular tokens when you start trading.

Start Your Crypto Journey Today and Get $500 in Rewards

Crypto.com

acf/call-to-action

Digital Currency Group (DCG), a prominent player in the cryptocurrency industry, on Friday agreed to settle with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for misleading investors.



What Happened: DCG, founded by&nbsp;Barry Silbert, and its former executive,&nbsp;Soichiro &#8220;Michael&#8221; Moro, will collectively pay $38.5 million to the SEC. This settlement is to resolve charges of providing false information about the financial state of Genesis Global Capital, a crypto lending unit once under DCG.



The SEC&nbsp;found that DCG and Moro&nbsp;misrepresented Genesis&#8217;s financial condition during a period of instability caused by the collapse of FTX in 2022. This included downplaying the impact of a major Genesis borrower&#8217;s default on the company&#8217;s business.



See Also:<a href="https://www.benzinga.com/24/12/42735744/pharma-bro-martin-shkreli-predicts-doom-for-michael-saylors-microstrategy-as-stock-dips-below-300-in-after-hours-trading" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">&nbsp;</a><a href="https://www.benzinga.com/government/regulations/25/01/42994641/italys-largest-bank-leaps-into-bitcoin-trading-with-1-million-test-investment-but-ceo-says-he-doesnt-invest-in-btc-personally" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Italy's Largest Bank Leaps Into Bitcoin Trading With $1 Million ‘Test' Investment But CEO Says He Doesn't Invest In BTC Personally</a>



The SEC noted that DCG and Moro agreed to pay the penalties without admitting or denying the allegations of violating the Securities Act of 1933. This settlement comes after a separate agreement in May 2024, in which New York Attorney General Letitia James reached a $2 billion settlement with Genesis to compensate defrauded investors.



Why It Matters: The cryptocurrency industry has been under increased scrutiny from regulatory bodies. This settlement comes in the wake of similar actions taken against other financial firms.



Earlier this month,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.benzinga.com/markets/equities/25/01/42971991/robinhood-agrees-to-45-million-sec-settlement-over-past-violations">Robinhood agreed to pay $45 million to the SEC</a>&nbsp;for a series of regulatory violations. The charges were related to failures in trading activity reporting, cybersecurity practices, recordkeeping, and customer communication.



Additionally, a group of financial firms, including&nbsp;<a href="https://www.benzinga.com/markets/25/01/42966800/blackstone-kkr-among-12-firms-to-pay-63-million-to-sec-after-recordkeeping-violations">Blackstone and KKR, settled with the SEC for $63.1 million</a>&nbsp;over recordkeeping violations. These firms were accused of using unauthorized communication methods to exchange messages that were required to be preserved under securities laws.



Meanwhile,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.benzinga.com/markets/cryptocurrency/25/01/43009858/elon-musk-slams-sec-as-totally-broken-organization">Elon Musk criticized the SEC</a>&nbsp;for focusing on trivial cases and ignoring more significant crimes. This came after the SEC sued Musk for allegedly failing to disclose a substantial stake in X (formerly known as Twitter) before his acquisition of the platform.



Price Action: At the time of writing, Bitcoin BTC/USD was exchanging hands at&nbsp;$103,660.11, up 2% in the last 24 hours, according to&nbsp;<a href="https://pro.benzinga.com/dashboard?_gl=1&#x2A;380nj0&#x2A;_ga&#x2A;MTEyOTAyOTcxMy4xNzEzMzY0NTYy&#x2A;_ga_V7ZK73W7N0&#x2A;MTcxNDk4MzIzMi42LjEuMTcxNDk4OTE0Ni4wLjAuMA.." target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">data from Benzinga Pro</a>. During the same period, Ethereum ETH/USD lost 0.46%, Dogecoin DOGE/USD shed 1.39% and Litecoin LTC/USD was down 8.29%. 



Read Next:&nbsp;



<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.benzinga.com/25/01/42993521/michael-saylors-microstrategy-not-alone-in-bitcoin-acquisition-says-bitwise-chief-investment-officer-its-a-bona-fide-megatrend" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Michael Saylor's MicroStrategy Not Alone In Bitcoin Acquisition, Says Bitwise Chief Investment Officer: ‘It's A Bona Fide Megatrend'</a></li>
</ul>



Photo courtesy: Shutterstock

Coverage of Bitcoin, Etherum, Ripple and all the latest digital currencies.

Cryptocurrency

News

Markets

General

Digital Currency Group (DCG), a prominent player in the cryptocurrency industry, on Friday agreed to settle with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for misleading investors.

Crypto Firm DCG Settle With SEC For $38.5M Over Misleading Investors - Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust (BTC) Common units of fractional undivided beneficial interest (ARCA:BTC)

Ananya Gairola

Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust (BTC) Common units of fractional undivided beneficial interest

Digital Currency Group (DCG), a prominent player in the cryptocurrency industry, on Friday agreed to settle with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for misleading investors.

Barry Silbert

benzinga neuro

Digital Currency Group

$BTC

$DOGE

$ETH

$LTC

Crypto Firm DCG Settles With SEC For $38.5M Over Misleading Investors

Crypto Firm DCG Settle With SEC For $38.5M Over Misleading Investors

Bitcoin

Dogecoin

Ethereum

Litecoin

Application error: a client-side exception has occurred (see the browser console for more information).