BarnBridge DAO has halted all work on its protocol following reports of an investigation by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
A platform called BarnBridge creates protocols and infrastructure around a fiat stablecoin. The native governance token that enables holders to vote on proposals is called BOND.
The DAO and others connected to the DAO are apparently under investigation, according to Douglas Park, who was just elected as BarnBridge DAO’s legal counsel.
Park recommended stopping all activity without elaborating on the subject of the regulator’s investigation: Existing liquidity pools should be shut down, and no new liquidity pools should be created, to minimize potential future legal exposure. Individuals should no longer be paid for any work connected to Barnbridge until further notice, and all work on goods related to Barnbridge should halt.
Tyler Ward, a co-founder of BarnBridge, confirmed the SEC inquiry but said he had been “advised not to comment” on it. Recent developments imply that the SEC has expanded its regulatory authority to include smaller and growing decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols and large centralized exchanges like Binance and Coinbase.
Despite the agency’s lack of official comment, the BarnBridge neighborhood is concerned about this development.One community member said, “Is there any proof you can provide about the SEC investigating BarnBridge, or is this just an exit strategy to defraud others?”Another community member, meanwhile, stated,
“But even if this is real and the SEC is investigating Barnbridge DAO members, business should continue as usual. We live in America where you are innocent until proven guilty unless there’s something else we don’t know.”
However, Ward claimed there was no attempt to rug, saying,
“I’m a doxxed American. People in this Discord know where I live. This would be the worst thought-out rug attempt in history for us to make this up.”
Within a day, BOND, the native token of BarnBridge, decreased by over 10%. Trackers indicate that it is currently selling for $3.02.The token is currently down 98.37% from its top of $185.69 in October 2020.
