Tagged: enforcement

September 15, 2020 @ 2:56 pm By JD Alois  |  

Unikrn, a token issuer that attempted to remain compliant while issuing digital assets, has settled with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regarding allegations of an unregistered initial coin offering (ICO) of digital securities. Unikrn is an eSports and gaming platform launched in 2014. According… Read More

August 19, 2020 @ 10:43 am By JD Alois  |  

Paragon Coin, and its affiliated initial coin offering, is pretty emblematic of the ICO heyday when any token could raise money based largely on a white-paper and effective marketing campaign. While it is hard to accurately discern, Paragon issued the PRG token raising around $12… Read More

August 17, 2020 @ 2:36 pm By JD Alois  |  

Brendan Ross, the former CEO and founder of Direct Lending Investments (DLI), is the target of a Civil Enforcement Action filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) last week. Direct Lending Investments was once a prominent participant in the online lending industry in the… Read More

July 24, 2020 @ 3:11 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged Trustify Inc., along with founder and CEO Daniel Boice, with fraudulently offering and selling over $18.5 million of securities to more than 90 corporate and individual investors. The allegations were made in relation to an offering and… Read More

July 20, 2020 @ 3:48 pm By JD Alois  |  

Jack Abramoff, the infamous lobbyist, has settled with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regarding allegations of an illicit digital asset offering. As was previously reported, Abramoff, along with NAC Foundation (National Aten Coin) and its CEO Marcus Andrade were charged with selling a digital asset security,… Read More

July 13, 2020 @ 10:51 am By JD Alois  |  

In simultaneous announcements, the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have charged Plutus Financial, Inc.,  doing business as Abra in California, and Plutus Technologies Philippines Corp. dba as Abra International in the Philippines for entering into illegal off-exchange swaps in… Read More

June 26, 2020 @ 7:57 pm By JD Alois  |  

Telegram, the fast-growing social network that attempted to raise funds via a digital asset offering, has decided to settle an enforcement action initiated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). According to a release, the SEC has obtained court approval of a settlement with the… Read More

June 25, 2020 @ 4:09 pm By JD Alois  |  

Jack Abramoff is making headlines once again. The notorious political lobbyist has been charged with fraud by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in an unregistered offering of AML Bitcoin (ABTC). Abramoff, along with NAC Foundation (National Aten Coin) and its CEO Marcus Andrade allegedly… Read More

June 23, 2020 @ 10:34 am By JD Alois  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has obtained a final judgment in an enforcement action against Eran Eyal, the founder and former chief executive officer of UnitedData, Inc., DBA Shopin, for conducting an allegedly fraudulent initial coin offering (ICO). Towards the end of 2019, the… Read More

June 19, 2020 @ 7:48 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed an emergency action to halt Pennsylvania-based brothers Sean Hvizdzak and Shane Hvizdzak and a digital asset fund. The Hvizdzaks operated several companies: Hvizdzak Capital Management LLC; High Street Capital LLC; High Street Capital Partners, LLC . Each… Read More

June 5, 2020 @ 4:36 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has obtained an asset freeze and other emergency relief against Daniel F. Putnam, of Utah, Jean Paul Ramirez Rico, of Colombia, and Angel A. Rodriguez, of Utah, who allegedly scammed over $12 million from over 2000 investors in a… Read More

May 28, 2020 @ 3:32 pm By JD Alois  |  

BitClave, a blockchain-based firm that completed an initial coin offering (ICO) for “Consumer Activity Tokens” (CAT) in 2017, has agreed to return investor money, according to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). This is just the latest ICO that has had to backtrack on a… Read More

May 15, 2020 @ 12:00 pm By JD Alois  |  

Earlier this week, it was reported that Telegram has decided to abandon its initiative to launch a blockchain platform called TON (Telegram Open Network) and a cryptocurrency named Gram. The decision was the direct result of an ongoing enforcement action launched by the US Securities… Read More

April 24, 2020 @ 10:34 am By JD Alois  |  

The long march of crypto enforcement actions continued today when the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) revealed charges against Dropil and founders Jeremy McAlpine, Zachary Matar, and Patrick O’Hara pertaining to an initial coin offering (ICO). As has become fairly commonplace, the SEC is alleging… Read More

April 16, 2020 @ 2:06 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has filed fraud charges against Alan Friedland and his companies, Fintech Investment Group, Inc. and Compcoin LLC. The CFTC claims that Friedland and his Florida based firms fraudulently solicited over $1.6 million in connection with a leveraged or margined… Read More

April 9, 2020 @ 5:09 pm By JD Alois  |  

In 2016, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) detected an intrusion of the Commission’s EDGAR test filing system that may have provided the basis for illicit gains. A vulnerability in EDGAR was promptly patched but it highlighted the perils of a financial system that is… Read More

March 16, 2020 @ 6:55 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged Denis Georgiyevich Sotnikov and entities he controlled for allegedly participating in a scam to trap U.S. investors into buying fictitious Certificates of Deposit (CDs) via “spoofed” websites.  The SEC states that $26 million was stolen from investors…. Read More

March 10, 2020 @ 3:39 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has received a default judgment against ICOBox and founder Nikolay Evdokimov for conducting an illegal $14.6 million securities offering. In a release, the SEC said that Judge Dale S. Fischer of the United States District Court for the Central… Read More

February 28, 2020 @ 7:00 pm By JD Alois  |  

Recently the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), issued what is believed to be the first enforcement action against a bank dealing in digital assets. The target of the consent order was M.Y. Safra Bank. According to the Order, the bank was a… Read More

February 20, 2020 @ 5:33 pm By JD Alois  |  

As we have previously reported, Telegram is engaged in a legal battle with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in what may be the biggest SEC cryptocurrency case yet.  One the one side, you have Telegram that raised over a billion dollars from a digital… Read More