Five of the nine SEC-registered crypto firms are now gone, documents show

On March 1, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) staff published a list of cryptocurrency companies that got registered with the regulator.

The SEC had previously insisted that registration was as simple as filling out a form on the agency’s website. Interestingly, looking at the published list, five of the nine firms that attained some form of registration with the commission have since collapsed despite their compliance.

It is still being determined how many other crypto firms in total have applied for registration and failed or given up on this process. Notably, companies have yet to register under the SEC chairman Gary Gensler. Commenting on the registration, Alan Silbert, the North America CEO of crypto exchange INX, published on Twitter on March 1:

“The SEC needs to make a friendlier environment for people trying to adhere to the law. They need to advance registrations that have been toiling for too long.”

What happened to the registered firms?

Specifically, the companies that are no longer there include Blockchain of Things, which shut down at the end of February after over seven years of operation; YouNow, which gave up on its PROPS token in 2021; and ParagonCoin, which got into trouble over an ICO and closed down.

Other crypto companies tried to restructure to survive but failed. They include Enigma MPC, which registered out of a settlement over an ICO, and Airfox (Carrier EQ), which was fined by the SEC after failing to register its ICO. Two years later, it was acquired by a Brazilian company.

So far, the four firms that have survived the registration include Hiro Systems (previously called Blockstack), SALT Lending, INX exchange, and Ceres.

Due to such results, Stuart Alderoty, the chief counsel of Ripple, a company battling with the SEC, told emerging firms to avoid launching in the U.S.