Nvidia to Pay $5.5M Fine to SEC for ‘Inadequate Disclosures’ About Cryptomining

Nvidia Corporation has agreed to pay $5.5 million (about Rs 42 crore) to settle civil charges that the tech company failed to properly disclose the impact of cryptocurrency mining on its gaming business, a the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said Friday.

In consecutive quarters of fiscal 2018, Nvidia did not disclose cryptomining as a “significant component” of its revenue growth from sales of chips designed for gaming, the SEC said in a statement and a billing order.

The firm, which neither admitted nor denied the SEC’s findings, agreed to pay a civil penalty of $5.5 million (about Rs. 42 crore). A Santa Clara, Calif.-based Nvidia spokesperson declined to comment.

In 2018, Nvidia’s chips became popular for cryptomining, the process of earning crypto rewards in exchange for verifying transactions on distributed ledgers, the SEC said. The regulator alleged that Nvidia knew of this information, but did not share it with investors.

These omissions misled investors and analysts who wanted to understand the impact of cryptomining on Nvidia’s business, the SEC said.

© Thomson Reuters 2022