No lame-o’s allowed in the cool kids SPAC club.
Like cryptocurrencies themselves, settling some but not all allegations of wrongdoing in advance of going public is all the rage these days. Just ask cryptocurrency operator and erstwhile crypto exchange operator Circle Internet Financial.
Cryptocurrency operator Circle Internet Financial Ltd. said it has set aside more than $10 million to settle a case brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission against Poloniex LLC, its discontinued crypto exchange business…. In the filing, Circle also disclosed it is being investigated by the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, which enforces U.S. sanctions. Circle said that in 2019 it received administrative subpoenas from OFAC and an Iranian government agency, looking into possible violations related to Poloniex registered exchange accounts for people in embargoed jurisdictions and for processed transactions that may have violated sanctions.
That means its ready to do something even cooler than trade cryptos and cut novelty-sized checks to regulators—go public via special-purpose acquisition company.
A company still in the crypto exchange game isn’t quite ready to go public just yet, but when it does, it certainly hopes to get more than the $4.5 billion Circle managed.
Cryptocurrency exchange FTX has raised money at an $18 billion valuation…. FTX raised $900 million in a new funding round that closed Tuesday. Participants in the round included Japanese technology investor SoftBank Group Corp. , Silicon Valley venture-capital firm Sequoia Capital and Third Point, the hedge fund led by billionaire Daniel Loeb, FTX said.
Circle Sets Aside $10.4 Million to Settle SEC Case on Poloniex [WSJ]
Crypto Exchange FTX Valued at $18 Billion in Funding Round [WSJ]
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