Founders Fund Partner: SEC Once Forced DeFi Founders to "Never Engage in the Crypto Industry"

ChainCatcher news, according to Cointelegraph, Founders Fund partner Joey Krug revealed at the ETHDenver conference that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), under former chairman Gary Gensler, had forced founders of decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms to agree to never engage in the cryptocurrency industry again through settlement agreements.

Krug stated, "In many cases, the government finds the founders of DeFi protocols and basically tells them they must settle with us. In many instances, they require them to sign a document promising to never work in the crypto industry again. Moreover, due to non-disparagement clauses, these agreements cannot be publicly discussed." He also claimed that these regulators would threaten the founders: "If you don't agree to these terms, you will go to jail."

Krug mentioned that he initially did not believe in the existence of these settlement agreements until some unnamed founders showed him the contents of the agreements, which indeed included clauses stating "never engage in the crypto industry" and "not to discuss publicly."