U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Commissioner Hester Peirce applauded her colleagues for imposing a $1.7 million fine on DeFi protocol BarnBridge DAO.
BarnBridge DAO has agreed to settle charges that it, along with its two founders, Tyler Ward and Troy Murray, sold structured crypto-asset securities known as SMART Yield bonds.
“The company agreed to withdraw nearly $1.5 million in proceeds from the sale, and Ward and Murray each agreed to pay civil penalties of $125,000,” the SEC said in a statement.
“The use of blockchain technology to offer and sell unregistered structured finance products to individual investors violates securities laws,” said SEC Director Gurbir Grewal. “This case serves as an important reminder that these laws apply to everyone seeking access to our capital markets, whether consolidated, decentralized or autonomous.”
Peirce took issue with the SEC’s decision to fine Ward and Marray. She wrote on social media, “I haven’t written a dissenting opinion (yet?), but I voted against it.”
Peirce has not been shy about criticizing the SEC in the past, especially when it comes to litigation.
In 2022, Peirce said he felt the agency had “dropped the regulatory ball” when it came to regulating cryptocurrencies. She also harshly criticized the SEC for its “inaction.”
“Watching the SEC refuse to engage productively with cryptocurrency users and developers over the past four years has fueled distrust of the SEC’s bewildering and idiosyncratic approach to regulation,” he said.
The SEC appears, at least publicly, to be rejecting additional “rulemaking petitions,” arguing that its current securities framework adequately governs cryptocurrency asset securities.
“This is an area rife with bad actors and rife with fraud, manipulation and money laundering,” said SEC Chairman Gary Gensler.