THE United States Securities and Exchange Commission requested information from companies on relations with the Ethereum Foundation as part of a review of aspects of Ether, the world's second-largest cryptocurrency, according to people familiar with the matter.
The recent SEC investigation could represent a significant escalation by Wall Street's top regulator in its multi-year crackdown on the crypto industry. The president of the agency, Gary Gensler, asserts that many digital assets are unregistered securities subject to SEC rules. He declined to say whether Ether was part of that group.