The Securities and Exchange Commission filed charges against Florida-based TradeStation Crypto, Inc. for failing to register to offer a crypto loan product that promised investors a way to earn interest.
The agency announced the charges on Wednesday and said TradeStation had agreed to settle the charges and pay a $1.5 million fine while not admitting or denying the SEC's findings, according to a statement.
TradeStation is a mainstream financial platform founded in 1982 and acquired by the Japanese consortium Monex in 2011. In 2020, it began offering cryptocurrency deposit accounts that allow customers to earn interest. As of 2021, TradeStation had 11,122 active users globally participating in the interest feature, according to the filing.
The SEC said TradeStation’s crypto loan product is a security and does not qualify for the registration exemption. On June 30, 2022, TradeStation ceased providing the service under an order from the SEC, the agency said. Earlier this year, TradeStation announced that its crypto-related products and services in the United States would be discontinued on February 22. The company did not admit any wrongdoing.