SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce says BitMEX legal charges sign of things to come in USA

At the beginning of October the US CFTC filed civil charges against crypto exchange BitMEX and some of its executives over alleged violations of Anti-Money Laundering (AML) regulations. SEC commissioner Hester Peirce commented on these charges recently, and thinks that there could be more charges coming for exchanges that operate in the USA.

Peirce told media,

“I think that the message has been coming to the industry fairly loud and clear on the AML/KYC front, and I’m sure it will continue...It’s definitely sending a message to the crypto world that when there are U.S. users of a product or a service, there’s going to be enforcement of U.S. laws.”

Why it matters:Regulations for cryptocurrency in the USA are still poorly defined, although there have been a recent string of enforcement actions against some of the largest exchanges and crypto services companies in the nation. The USA isn't a leader in crypto services, and with both state and federal laws to contend with, the US is looking like an increasingly poor jurisdiction for any company that deals with cryptos. If these enforcement actions are a portent of things to come in the USA, it is likely that companies will pull out of the country, and develop their business in other areas of the world.