Had Left Crypto, Andre Cronje Reveals SEC Pressure Era Gary Gensler

JAKARTA - The central figure in the decentralized financial world (DeFi) sector, Andre Cronje, finally opened his voice about his decision to leave the crypto industry in 2022.

The founder of Sonic (S) and Yearn Finance (YFI) revealed the reason behind the decision. He mentioned that there was regulatory pressure, especially from the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) under the leadership of Gary Gensler at the time.

In an upload in Medium, Cronje explained that it all started in 2021 when the SEC began sending letters to him asking for various information about Yearn Finance, including whether he had raised funds and who the investors were.

Even though he is not a citizen or a US resident, Cronje is still trying to cooperate by providing the requested data. However, letters from the SEC continued to arrive in an increasingly aggressive tone.

"They continue to investigate me, first with the notion that I am raising illegal funds. When it is not proven, they turn to other aspects, such as categorizing Yearn's vault as an 'investment instrument'," he wrote.

This condition forced Cronje to divert attention from development and innovation to legal matters that took a lot of time and energy. "I was practically forced to stop development and research in order to focus on this legal battle," he added.

Setelah dua tahun menghadapi tekanan dan ketidakpastian, Cronje akhirnya merasa harus memilih antara tetap bercimpung di dunia DeFi dengan berbagai risiko hukum atau meninggalkannya.

"I can continue to try to build something without reward, while facing continuous regulatory attacks, or I can walk away," he said.

Cronje's decision to withdraw from crypto has become a hot topic among crypto communities, given its role as one of the main innovators in the DeFi industry.

Yearn Finance, which was launched by Cronje in 2020, was a flagship project with YFI tokens that recorded the highest price at the level of 93,435 US dollars (or equivalent to Rp1.45 billion) on May 15, 2021, according to CoinMarketCap data.