Share this article
SEC Scrutinizing Crypto Firms Over Interest-Paying Services: Report
The U.S. regulator is considering whether these firms should file their offerings as securities.
By James Rubin
Updated May 11, 2023, 4:42 p.m. Published Jan 26, 2022, 8:41 p.m.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is probing crypto exchanges Voyager Digital and Gemini Trust and crypto lender Celsius Network as part of a wider investigation into crypto companies that pay interest on virtual token deposits, Bloomberg reported Wednesday, citing unnamed sources.
- The agency is considering whether these firms should file their offerings as securities with the SEC, Bloomberg reported, but the agency is not accusing any of the firms of wrongdoing at this time.
- These companies can pay higher interest rates on these assets than most banks do on savings accounts by lending their tokens to other investors.
- Several states, including Kentucky, New Jersey, Alabama and Texas have separately noted their unease with this practice by Celsius and BlockFi, among other companies.
- Gemini, Celsius and Voyager said they are cooperating with the SEC probe, Bloomberg reported.
- In September, the SEC threatened to sue crypto exchange Coinbase over a proposed lending program. Coinbase subsequently dropped its plans for the lending service.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
More For You
What to know:
- As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M.
- GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month.
- Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B.
More For You
Citadel Securities and DeFi Waging War of Words Through SEC Correspondence
The investing giant had asked the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to treat DeFi players like regulated entities, and the DeFi crowd pushed back.
What to know:
- A feud conducted over U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) correspondence has developed between Citadel Securities and the DeFi sector, arguing over whether DeFi protocols should be more regulated.
- The DeFi space is calling out the investment firm for its approach to the securities regulator.
Top Stories
