<\/p>\n
The CFTC has taken action against three DeFi firms for violating federal laws relating to digital asset derivatives trading.<\/p>\n
In orders<\/a> dated Thursday, the CFTC charged Opyn, ZeroEx and Deridex with operating unregistered trading platforms and offering illegal leveraged transactions in digital assets.<\/p>\n Specifically, the CFTC said ZeroEx\u2019s DEX aggregator Matcha allowed trading of third-party tokens that offered 2:1 leverage on assets like ether (ETH<\/a>) and bitcoin (BTC<\/a>), in violation of federal regulations requiring such platforms to be registered.<\/p>\n In a post<\/a> on X, formerly Twitter, Matcha downplayed the charges, claiming the tokens identified only constitute roughly \u201c0.1% of Matcha\u2019s trading volume since inception.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAt 0x, strategic decisions are made with input from outside legal counsel.\u00a0 In this case, we are implementing additional processes after constructive dialogue with the regulatory agency,\u201d Matcha said.<\/p>\n The regulator previously warned<\/a> industry participants and projects in May it would be keeping a close watch on new crypto products and services while it beefed up its efforts to pursue cases<\/a> it found in violation of financial rules.<\/p>\n Opyn and Deridex simultaneously have been charged for failing to register as a swap execution facility or a designated contract market, while also falling short in operating as a registered futures commission merchant.\u00a0<\/p>\n Opyn is accused of developing a blockchain-based trading protocol for its digital asset derivative token, oSQTH, without proper registration. Despite attempts to block US users, the company violated federal laws by allowing leveraged transactions and failing to implement a required customer identification program, the CFTC said.<\/p>\n Deridex is accused of illegally offering derivatives via perpetual swaps, a relatively novel idea with roots in the crypto industry. Perps<\/a>, commonly referred to in shorthand, operate much like futures contracts but lack an expiration date.<\/p>\n The charges on Thursday potentially expose the US DeFi sector to further crackdowns. Earlier this year, Ooki DAO<\/a> lost its court case against the regulator, opting not to fight it out<\/a>. Ooki was alleged to have violated certain laws by offering margined and leveraged commodities.\u00a0<\/p>\n The case drew particular attention after the DAO was served via its online chatbot<\/a> in an industry first.<\/p>\n \u201cSomewhere along the way, DeFi operators got the idea that unlawful transactions become lawful when facilitated by smart contracts,\u201d CFTC enforcement director Ian McGinley said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe DeFi space may be novel, complex and evolving, but the Division of Enforcement will continue to evolve with it and aggressively pursue those who operate unregistered platforms that allow US persons to trade digital asset derivatives.\u201d<\/p>\n While the regulator has taken into account the companies\u2019 cooperation it has imposed reduced penalties, with Opyn, ZeroEx, and Deridex ordered to pay $250,000, $200,000 and $100,000, respectively. The CFTC has also mandated a cease and desist order against all three.<\/p>\n Get the day\u2019s top crypto news and insights delivered to your email every evening.\u00a0Subscribe to Blockworks\u2019 free newsletter<\/a>\u00a0now.<\/strong><\/p>\n Want alpha sent directly to your inbox? Get degen trade ideas, governance updates, token performance, can\u2019t-miss tweets and more from\u00a0Blockworks Research\u2019s Daily Debrief<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n Can\u2019t wait? Get our news the fastest way possible.\u00a0Join us on Telegram<\/a>\u00a0and follow us on\u00a0Google News<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The CFTC has taken action against three DeFi firms for violating federal laws relating to digital asset derivatives trading. In orders dated Thursday, the CFTC charged Opyn, ZeroEx and Deridex with operating unregistered trading platforms and offering illegal leveraged transactions in digital assets. Specifically, the CFTC said ZeroEx\u2019s DEX aggregator Matcha allowed trading of third-party […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":112901,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[230,225,221,227,226,228,229,60,223,224,222],"class_list":["post-152102","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cryptocurrency","tag-brave","tag-coinbase","tag-crypto","tag-decentralised","tag-decentralized","tag-decentralized-exchange","tag-erc-20","tag-featured","tag-meme-coin","tag-robinhood","tag-solana"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dripp.zone\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152102","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dripp.zone\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dripp.zone\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dripp.zone\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dripp.zone\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=152102"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dripp.zone\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152102\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":152104,"href":"https:\/\/dripp.zone\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152102\/revisions\/152104"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dripp.zone\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/112901"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dripp.zone\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=152102"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dripp.zone\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=152102"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dripp.zone\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=152102"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Cracking down on DeFi<\/h2>\n
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