Author: Nancy, PANews
After market makers such as Gotbit were accused by US regulators, Cumberland DRW was also sued by the US SEC. Facing the SEC's regulatory iron fist, Cumberland DRW responded positively that it would not change its business operations and was ready to defend itself again.
Allegedly an unregistered securities dealer who made more than $27 million in profits
On October 11, the SEC announced charges against Chicago-based Cumberland DRW LLC, alleging that it had been operating without a registered securities dealer since March 2018, buying and selling at least $2 billion in crypto assets for its own accounts, which were issued and sold as securities. At the same time, Cumberland obtained millions of dollars in illegal gains through transactions with investors and deprived investors and the market of the protection provided by the registration provisions of the federal securities laws.
The prosecution document stated that Cumberland promoted its popularity and importance in the field of encryption assets, including publicly declared that it was "the world's leading crypto asset liquidity provider". AND provides a buying and selling quotation of encrypted assets to the trading opponent. These encrypted assets are the issuance and sale of securities.
SEC进一步指出，买卖报价之间通常有较大的价差，其通过赚取买卖价差（或差异）或从价值增加的仓位中平仓等方式获利。据SEC披露，Cumberland从其加密交易业务中产生了超过4亿美元的收入和超过2700万美元的利润。
At the same time, the SEC also highlighted Cumberland's promotion of crypto assets. The document pointed out that Cumberland has a team of research analysts and relationship managers who mainly publish research reports on the crypto industry and certain crypto assets issued and sold as securities, sometimes suggesting that these values may increase. Cumberland describes these crypto assets to counterparties as potential favorable investment opportunities for the success of future crypto asset projects.
另外，该诉讼文件称，Cumberland还通过在第三方交易平台上的账户执行各种自营交易策略来管理风险、捕捉价差或寻找套利机会，包括曾在Binance.com、Binance.US、Bittrex、Coinbase、Kraken和Poloniex等加密资产交易平台开设账户。
“Federal securities laws require all dealers in securities to register with the Commission, and dealers operating in the crypto asset markets are no exception,” said Jorge G. Tenreiro, acting chief of the SEC’s Crypto Assets and Cyberspace Unit.
The SEC believes that Cumberland engaged in trading activities without registration, which violated the legal framework for ensuring transparency and protecting investors. It asked the court to impose a permanent injunction on Cumberland, return all improper profits obtained through unregistered trading activities, and pay the interest accumulated before the judgment and civil penalties.
Cumberland accuses SEC of stifling innovation, won't change business operations
"Cumberland becomes the latest target of the SEC's enforcement priorities, which suppress innovation and hinder legitimate companies' participation in the digital asset space. In recent hearings, the SEC was accused of being a 'rogue agency' for failing to cooperate with Congress and criticized for abusing its power." Cumberland responded immediately.
Cumberland进一步指出，过去五年时间里，其与SEC就此问题进行了大量讨论，并提供了几十份书面总结和声明和数千页的材料。为满足SEC的要求，其还在2019年收购了一家注册证券经纪商，但其后却被告知只能用其交易BTC或ETH这两种不在SEC管辖范围内的“商品”。基于SEC的行动，Cumberland不会对业务运营或提供流动性的资产进行任何改变。
The court’s case against DRW was “based solely on a ‘flat earth’ type conviction.” This time, the SEC’s approach appears to be a game of Catch-22, with the ability to “come in and register” being a mirage. Cumberland is ready to defend himself once again.
对此SEC对加密做市商的监管行动，加密KOL@qinbafrank表示，“美国监管机构对加密行业的关注越来越深入，从最早监管稳定币、监管交易平台、再到起诉知名项目，现在大规模指控做市商，只能说未来灰色空间会越来越小，更多以前觉得自己规模小不被注意的项目未来也越来被司法机构关注到。而且做市商作为小币流动性的关键命门搞做市商，对于小币来说算不算釜底抽薪了？”
“当前的SEC监管制度就像寄生虫，正在榨取那些试图为加密货币建立实际应用场景的诚信运营者的利益。我们将来会将其视为美国科技创新历史上的一个污点。值得庆幸的是，SEC似乎在挑起一些最终会失败的争斗，这让我感到乐观。”Scroll前合作伙伴关系负责人@0xLilShah表示。
加密货币倡导组织The Digital Chamber首席政策官Cody Carbone则认为，这一监管行动是SEC又一次监管越权和缺乏诚信的行为。加密行业需要的是明确规则，而不是通过头条新闻进行的执法，这才是行业繁荣所需要的。
Perhaps affected by this news, Bitcoin once led to a general decline in the crypto market. According to CoinGecko data, in the past 24 hours, the price of Bitcoin once fell below the $60,000 mark to $58,000.
In fact, before this, due to the intensified crackdown on the crypto industry by US regulators, market makers Jane Street and Jump Trading both announced their withdrawal from the US crypto trading market. Judging from the recent prosecution of Cumberland and others by regulators, crypto market makers will face more stringent compliance requirements in the future.
