US charges DeFi platform with misleading investors, acting as unregistered brokers

By Ovunc Kutlu

ISTANBUL (AA) - The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced Wednesday that it had settled charges against Rari Capital, Inc., a decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol, and its co-founders.

The charges included misleading investors and engaging in unregistered broker activity in connection with their operation of two blockchain-based investment platforms that collectively held crypto assets worth more than $1 billion.

The agency said in a statement that Rari Capital also settled SEC charges that it conducted unregistered offerings of three securities tied to those platforms.

Rari Capital Infrastructure LLC, which took over operations from Rari Capital in 2022, also settled charges that it engaged in unregistered securities offerings and unregistered broker activity, it added.

"We will not be deterred by someone labeling a product as 'decentralized' and 'autonomous' but instead will look beyond the labels to the economic realities, as we did here, and hold the individuals behind crypto products and platforms accountable when they harm investors and violate federal securities laws," said Monique C. Winkler, director of the SEC’s San Francisco regional office.