US regulators probe stock moves before companies made crypto-treasury announcements, WSJ reports

U.S. regulators have examined sharp movements in the stock prices of companies before they announced plans to raise money to buy cryptocurrency for signs of potential insider trading and disclosure violations, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.

The Securities and Exchange Commission and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority have contacted some of the more than 200 companies that announced crypto-treasury strategies this year, the report added, citing people familiar with the matter.

SEC officials warned firms about possible breaches of rules against selective sharing of material nonpublic information, the Journal said.

The SEC declined to comment, while FINRA did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Reuters could not immediately verify the report.

Many publicly listed companies have been buying cryptocurrency buying, seeking to replicate the success of Strategy, formerly known as MicroStrategy, a software company that began accumulating bitcoin in 2020.