Three decentralized finance companies agreed to settle charges filed by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission that they illegally offered derivatives trading in cryptocurrency, the agency said Thursday.
The CFTC said the companies, Opyn and ZeroEx, both based in California, and North Carolina-based Deridex, illegally offered leveraged and margined retail commodities transactions in cryptocurrency. Deridex and Opyn were also charged with failing to register with the CFTC for digital asset derivatives trading and to have know-your-customer programs in compliance with money-laundering laws.
The CFTC categorized the three companies as DeFi protocols, which are blockchain-based software protocols and smart contracts that work essentially as trading platforms and supposedly offer users the ability to transact outside the regulated financial system.
Source: CFTC Cracks Down on DeFi Firms Over Crypto Derivatives Trading – WSJ
