Is the SEC eyeing Lido Finance?
David Hoffmann, host of the popular crypto podcast Bankless, claims that several DeFi platforms received warnings from the SEC last week.
David Hoffmann, host of the popular crypto podcast Bankless, claims that several DeFi platforms received warnings from the SEC last week. This hasn’t been confirmed yet.
The SEC allegedly sent a so-called "Wells Notice" to DeFi exchanges, Hoffmann initially explained. Hoffmann, in the latest episode of his podcast, named the decentralized staking provider Lido Finance as a recipient of such a Wells Notice. In a later tweet, however, he corrected himself. According to the tweet, representatives from Lido told him that such a warning from the SEC had not come.
The podcaster justified his mistake with a "misunderstanding" between himself and his source. The source nonetheless confirmed to him that the SEC recently gave at least one written warning to a DeFi platform.
The events underscore the regulatory uncertainty pervading the crypto sector. After the SEC's recent crackdown on crypto exchange Kraken, some staking operators fear further action from the agency.
So while the Lido rumors weren’t confirmed for now, the LDO token price plunged over 10 percent over the weekend. Crypto market maker Wintermute reportedly sold about 2 million LDO tokens at the same time.
