Happy to be regulated? Fallout from BlockFi settlement is a matter of speculation
It might seem unlikely that BlockFi founder and CEO Zac Prince would describe a prosecution that resulted in a $100-million fine for his company as “a win not only for BlockFi but for the broader cryptocurrency industry,” but that is indeed what he said. And, he might be right, although it remains to be seen for now.
Founded in 2017, BlockFi is a New Jersey-based crypto financial institution with a team of 850 and one million clients worldwide. Its popular BlockFi Interest Account product, with half a million users, including 407,000 in the United States, was the object of a cease and desist order from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and 32 state attorneys general on July 20, 2021. A statement at that time by the NJ Attorney General’s Office alleged that BlockFi was “selling unregistered securities in the form of interest-earning cryptocurrency accounts that have raised at least $14.7 billion worldwide.”
On Feb. 14, the SEC announced that it had charged BlockFi with “failing to register the offers and sales of its retail crypto lending product.” BlockFi was also charged with misleading investors by stating that its institutional loans were “typically” over-collateralized when, in fact, no more than 24% of the loans ever were. In the order instituting proceedings, it is noted that this is “an operational oversight” that happened after it became clear that large financial institutions were simply unwilling to overcollateralize their loans.
Finally, a settlement was reached under which BlockFi agreed to pay a $50 million penalty to the SEC and another $50 million to the 32 states without admitting wrongdoing or liability. In addition, BlockFi would “attempt to bring its business within the provisions of the
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