Sept 25 (Reuters) - 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.