There’s been some bad news for the recent surge in crypto treasury companies. These companies have landed on the radar of US regulators and could face investigations.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the SEC and FINRA contacted cryptocurrency treasury firms about information leaks and unusual transactions ahead of the treasury announcements.
US regulators the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) are investigating possible insider trading in the stocks of companies that have adopted cryptocurrency treasury strategies, the WSJ reported.
Authorities sent letters to nearly 200 companies that had announced such strategies, expressing concern about spikes in trading volume and stock prices just before they publicly announced their crypto strategies.
Accordingly, more than 200 companies that announced they were adopting cryptocurrency treasury strategies have come under scrutiny by the SEC and FINRA due to unusual stock price fluctuations prior to the announcement of these announcements.
The letters also warned that the information could indicate a violation of the Fair Disclosure Regulation (Reg FD), which prohibits companies from disclosing material, non-public information to individual investors.
Industry experts say they see the move as the start of a full-scale regulatory investigation into insider trading.
Lawyers say such letters often signal the possibility of further investigations into insider trading.
*This is not investment advice.