EToro Reaches $1.5M SEC Settlement, Agrees to Stop Trading Most Cryptocurrencies

As a seasoned researcher with a keen eye for regulatory compliance and market trends, I find the recent settlement between eToro and the SEC both intriguing and somewhat predictable. The crypto space has been a wild frontier, rife with innovation but also fraught with regulatory challenges.

According to a statement released by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday, eToro has consented to pay $1.5 million to settle allegations that it functioned as an unregistered broker, an unregistered clearing agency, and assisted in trading specific cryptocurrencies as securities.

According to the announcement, eToro has decided to stop breaking any relevant federal securities regulations and will only offer a select number of cryptocurrencies for trading.

According to an SEC decision, starting from 2020, eToro allowed American users to trade cryptocurrencies that were classified as securities without adhering to the necessary registration requirements under U.S. securities laws, as stated in the communique.