The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has concluded its three-year investigation into Bitcoin. Second layer (L2) blockchain Stacks (STX) and Hiro Systems without taking any action.
SEC Ends Investigation Into Stacks Case
Muneeb Ali, Co-Founder of Stacks Protocol, Advertise He concluded the SEC investigation with a social media post on Friday, expressing satisfaction with the outcome and noting that after providing all the required information and explaining the operation of the Stacks network and Hero’s role as an administrator, Development Tools CompanyThe SEC decided to drop the investigation. Ali said:
We are pleased that the SEC has dropped the investigation after all this time and effort. This is the best outcome a company in our industry could ask for, but the United States can do better. We need a regulatory system that meets the needs of innovative open protocol builders wherever they are. We will continue to work with policymakers and developers to help make this happen. The closure of the Stacks investigation gives us hope for a bright future for Bitcoin’s decentralized technologies and the next generation of the Internet.
The development represents another setback for the regulator after it recently imposed travel restrictions. Another case dropped Binance has filed a lawsuit against brokerage firm Paxos following a year-long investigation into the BUSD stablecoin, which a court ultimately ruled was not a security under the SEC’s Howey Test.
No exemption or guarantee of future action.
Securities and Exchange Commission, in letter On July 9, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission notified Stacks Protocol that it had concluded its investigation and did not intend to recommend any enforcement action against Hiro Systems, formerly known as Blockstack.
However, the SEC made clear that the notice should not be construed as a termination or a guarantee that no action will be taken as a result of the staff investigation. The letter also states:
We are providing this notice under the guidelines set forth in the final paragraph of Securities Act § 5310, which states in part that the notice “should in no way be construed to indicate that the party has been exonerated or that no action may ultimately result from the investigation conducted by the staff.
Hero Systems, Inc. Blog post Recap of the past year’s events, he said the SEC’s enforcement division launched an investigation into Hiro and the Stacks blockchain in January 2021, with the company complying. Information requests The role of Stacks Network and Hero’s involvement were explained. The blog post noted:
Our belief in empowering developers is also why we strongly believe in the need to create a clear path and regulatory framework in the United States, and we look forward to continued opportunities to help shape policies to meet the needs of innovative open protocol builders wherever they may be. The closure of the Hero and Stacks investigations gives us hope for a bright future for Bitcoin and the next generation of the internet.
Stacks’ native token STX is trading at $1.68, up over 5% in the 24-hour timeframe following the regulatory victory against the SEC.
Featured image by DALL-E, chart by TradingView.com