Bull or Bear? How SEC Actions Correlate With Market Prices

The SEC has gained the reputation of being a major news-maker in the cryptocurrency field: The watchdog's decisions toward the market have been associated with a number of price drops and bull runs.

SEC deems DAO tokens to be illegal securities When: July 2017.

In July 2017, the SEC came through with a major decision, putting its mark of interest on the crypto market.

The regulator reviewed the infamous decentralized autonomous organization case and concluded that DAO tokens, issued via its Initial Coin Offering back in 2016, were in fact securities and hence had to register with the SEC beforehand.

In order to determine if an ICO constitutes a security or not, the SEC usually applies the Howey Test - essentially, if a token is marketed as a profit-oriented asset, most likely it will be deemed a security being offered by the agency.

It might have been the result of market volatility rather than the SEC news, as such.

The SEC wasn't convinced by the Winklevoss' plea that Bitcoin markets are "Inherently resistant to manipulation," which was among the primary reasons for the rejection.

This catastrophic week on the crypto market is largely associated with the SEC postponing its decision on the listing and trading of a Bitcoin ETF powered by investment firm VanEck and financial services company SolidX until Sept. 30.

In March 2018, the SEC issued a public warning aimed at crypto exchanges.

"The SEC staff has concerns that many online trading platforms appear to investors as SEC-registered and regulated marketplaces when they are not. Many platforms refer to themselves as 'exchanges,' which can give the misimpression to investors that they are regulated or meet the regulatory standards of a national securities exchange."