BlockFi aims to offer its yield product to US investors once more following SEC registration.
The Securities and Exchange Commission announced Monday that it fined crypto lending firm BlockFi $100 million, and now the firm plans to register with the agency to offer clients its popular high-yield crypto savings product.with the SEC as well as state securities regulators, the firm has announced plans to file an S1 to offer BlockFi Yield to US investors as a security.
In the meantime, BlockFi says that existing US clients will be able to earn interest in their existing accounts but won’t be able to add more assets. Non-US users are unaffected. While US bank savings accounts are not subject to securities laws, they are required to offer FDIC insurance. Crypto lending platforms like BlockFi have generally compared themselves to bank accounts offering returns of up to 8%, as compared to sub-1% returns in traditional savings account. They have, however, not had FDIC insurance, which has rankled regulators like the SEC, who call these investment products akin to a mutual fund or other financial product.