What the BlockFi Settlement Means

What the BlockFi Settlement Means

Monday’s announcement of a settlement between the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the BlockFi crypto exchange sets all kinds of firsts. At $100 million, it is the largest fine that a cryptocurrency company has ever paid, and it’s also the first time that the SEC has gone after a crypto exchange (as opposed to the currencies themselves).

While it seems unlikely that BlockFi’s management and investors see it this way, the settlement actually points toward a future that should be broadly beneficial for crypto exchanges.

How is that?