Robinhood Markets has revealed that it has received an investigative subpoena from the United States Securities Exchange Commission over its digital asset business’ crypto listings, custody and platform operations.
In a 10-K filing, the brokerage said it received the investigative subpoena in December, a month after crypto exchange FTX filed for bankruptcy and following the bankruptcy filings of “several other major cryptocurrency trading venues and lending platforms earlier in 2022,” including Three Arrows Capital, Voyager Digital Holdings and Celsius Network.
The investigative subpoena was in relation to its cryptocurrency listings and custody services, which they said came in response to the crypto bankruptcies last year:
“In December 2022, following the 2022 Crypto Bankruptcies, we received an investigative subpoena from the SEC regarding, among other topics, RHC’s supported cryptocurrencies, custody of cryptocurrencies, and platform operations.”
In April 2021, Robinhood received subpoenas from the California Attorney General’s Office seeking information about its crypto arm’s trading platform, business and operations, custody of customer assets and coin listings.
Robinhood’s crypto division was hit with a $30 million fine by the New York District of Financial Services on Aug. 2 for failing to “invest the proper resources and attention to develop and maintain a culture of compliance.”
The brokerage was also scrutinized by the Massachusetts Securities Division in August 2021 for allegedly targeting inexperienced investors.
Investigative subpoenas are issued by a court at the request of another person or entity for the purposes of obtaining the information necessary to decide whether to pursue legal action against the subpoenaed person or entity.
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