The American DeFi project DMM announced its shutdown after being investigated by the SEC, promising to return user assets.

A US crypto assets project supported by well-known investors announced a permanent halt to operations less than a year after its launch. This project, called DeFi Money Market DAO (DMM), once allowed users to earn an Annual Percentage Rate of 6.5% by staking assets.

A week before the announcement of its closure, the project also held a creative event, inviting users to participate in a T-shirt design competition and promising to provide platform tokens as rewards for the winners.

The DMM team stated that the main reason for the sudden termination of the project is facing regulatory investigations. They then revealed that the project is under investigation by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

According to a statement from the DMM team, they received a subpoena from the SEC on December 15, 2020. The investigation involves the sales of the mToken and DMG tokens issued by the project, as well as other aspects of the company's business operations.

Although the project has ceased operations, the legal disputes with the SEC are ongoing. DMM stated that it is developing a plan aimed at returning DMG assets to holders, but no specific implementation plan has been announced yet.

This event has once again sparked the cryptocurrency industry's attention to regulatory issues, while reminding investors to remain cautious when participating in emerging financial projects. At the same time, it highlights the difficulties that cryptocurrency projects may encounter when facing regulatory challenges, as well as the importance of finding a balance between innovation and compliance.