As Bittrex prepares to cease operations in the United States, the Securities and Exchange Commission has filed a complaint against the Seattle-based exchange.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged Bittrex and its founders and former CEO William Shihara with running an unregistered national securities exchange, broker, and clearing agency. Bittrex Global was charged separately by the CFTC.
The SEC has filed four accusations of Exchange Act breaches against the firms and Shihara in the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington. Bittrex Global is also being charged in connection with its running of a single shared order book with Bittrex.
Bittrex had anticipated the SEC investigation and apparently got a Wells notification in March warning it of the forthcoming action. Due to the regulatory environment, the exchange had already declared its intention to terminate its U.S. operations on April 30.
