Circle blames SEC for Harmony SPAC deal failure 

Circle has lastly revealed the SEC’s refusal to greenlight its much-publicized particular goal acquisition firm (SPAC) cope with Harmony led to the failure of the $9 billion merger final yr.

SEC crushed Circle’s SPAC plans 

Circle, the issuer of USDC, the world’s second-largest stablecoin, has advised the Monetary Occasions that its much-talked-about and extremely publicized SPAC cope with Harmony Acquisition did not materialize because of the unwillingness of the U.S. Securities and Change Fee (SEC) to approve the submitting.

It will likely be recalled that Circle first introduced plans to grow to be a publicly listed firm by way of a SPAC merger with Harmony Acquisition in July 2021. Nevertheless, the deal confronted a few procedural setbacks, resulting in a mutual termination of the $9 billion settlement final December by each firms.

“We’re dissatisfied the proposed transaction timed out. Nevertheless, changing into a public firm stays a part of Circle’s core technique to boost belief and transparency, which has by no means been extra necessary.”

Jeremy Allaire, CEO Circle.

Quick ahead to January, and Circle had made it clear that the failure of its SPAC deal was not a  results of any type of battle with Harmony or the widespread FUD caused by the collapse of FTX, however because of the dreaded regulator’s failure to approve its S-4 submitting earlier than the transaction settlement between each firms expired.

SEC – a nightmare for web3 companies 

Whereas the talk on who must be the first regulatory watchdog (SEC or the CFTC) of the burgeoning web3 house remains to be on, the SEC has continued to wield its hammer towards crypto market contributors who go towards its statutes.

In 2022 alone, the SEC orchestrated 30 enforcement actions towards crypto market contributors, representing a 50% improve from 2021.

Earlier this month, main crypto lender Nexo reached a landmark multi-million greenback settlement with the SEC for providing its merchandise to U.S. residents.