(Reuters) – Investigators at the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s enforcement division have concluded that the co-founder of Voyager Digital broke derivatives regulations before the failed crypto lender plunged into bankruptcy last year, Bloomberg News reported on Friday.
The regulator intends to accuse Stephen Ehrlich of breaking its rules by misleading customers about the safety of their assets following a probe into Voyager’s conduct, the report added, citing people familiar with the matter.
Voyager filed for bankruptcy in July last year, becoming a casualty of a dramatic fall in prices that had shaken the cryptocurrency sector.
Voyager had lost significant value during an industry-wide cryptocurrency winter caused by the collapse of the Terra Luna stablecoin in May 2022 and stopped customers from withdrawing their crypto assets shortly before its bankruptcy filing.
“CFTC commissioners are now voting on whether to approve an enforcement action against him within days,” said the Bloomberg report.
The CFTC did not immediately respond to Reuters request for comment, while Ehrlich and his representatives could not be immediately reached.
(Reporting by Manya Saini in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)