Tens of millions of dollars worth of the meme asset Dogecoin (DOGE) has left Robinhood Crypto after the firm received a Wells Notice from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
New data from blockchain-tracking platform Bitcoinsensus reveals that 164 million DOGE worth $25 million was transferred out of Robinhood after the firm’s crypto branch received notice that the regulatory agency would be taking enforcement actions against it.
A Well Notice is a warning given by the SEC informing an entity that legal action is going to be taken against them, though it is not an indication of any wrongdoing. Robinhood received its notice on May 6th.
Earlier this week, crypto attorney Jake Chervinsky said that the SEC was abusing its power and issuing Wells Notices as a scare tactic.
“If the SEC brings as many enforcement actions as it has sent Wells Notices, it will be in flagrant violation of both the law and its Congressional mandate. If not, it’s clearly abusing the Wells process to get free discovery and terrorize upstanding US companies. Which is it?”
However, Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev took to social media after the firm received the notice, saying that he would challenge the SEC in court if it came down to it.
“While we strive to maintain positive and productive relationships with our regulators, if necessary we will use our resources to contest this matter in the courts, with the intent of both defending our crypto business and establishing regulatory clarity in the United States for the benefit of our customers.”
News of the transfer had minimal impact on DOGE as the digital asset is trading for $0.149 at time of writing, a fractional increase during the last 24 hours.
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