Jonathan Ernst/ReutersOn Monday, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced a settlement of $10 million with Poloniex crypto exchange.The agency stated that some of the digital assets could be considered "investment contracts" under securities law.Subscribe to our daily newsletter 10 Things Before The Opening Bell.As part of its ongoing crypto enforcement efforts, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced Monday a settlement worth $10 million with Poloniex.SEC claimed that Poloniex was a small-sized exchange, founded in 2014 and not registered as a securities exchange under federal regulators. According to the agency, Poloniex also allowed trading in unregistered digital assets from 2017 through 2019.Poloniex was therefore classified as a securities exchange. The SEC also stated in a legal order that Poloniex had failed to register. Poloniex didn't admit to wrongdoing, but he agreed to the settlement.Kristina Littman (chief of the SEC’s cyber enforcement division), stated that "Poloniex chose to increase profits over compliance with federal securities laws by including electronic asset securities on its unregistered Exchange."Hester Peirce (Commissioner), has frequently criticized SEC rulings. She claimed that Poloniex was held to an inapplicable standard by the agency.Peirce wrote in sharply crafted dissent, "Yes, Poloniex could've tried to register as either a securities exchange, or more likely as a broker-dealer." It would likely have waited to do so if it had done so. . ?. And waited. . . And waited more.In recent weeks, the SEC has intensified its efforts to regulate the crypto space. Chairman Gary Gensler likened crypto's current state to the Wild West. The agency announced its first ever decentralized finance enforcement action against a DeFi money market fund last week.Matt Levine, a Bloomberg commentator, wrote Monday that if a trading platform for crypto security is a securities exchange then many crypto trading platforms will get into trouble."
