June 13, 2018 @ 9:56 am By Cali Haan  |  

Police in Japan have decided to charge three individuals for infecting computers of unsuspecting individuals with software that mines privacy cryptocurrency Monero. The Japanese daily news provider Mainichi reports that the three individuals are accused of setting up web sites designed to attract and then… Read More

June 8, 2018 @ 11:44 am By JD Alois  |  

Yesterday, the Securities and Exchange Commission, Division of Enforcement, posted an update on the Titanium Blockchain enforcement action that reviewed the preliminary injunction filed against the firm. A quick review of the update indicated little new pertaining to the SEC’s move to shut down the… Read More

May 30, 2018 @ 7:49 am By JD Alois  |  

Titanium Blockchain (TBIS), founded by Michael Alan Stollery, aka Michael Stollaire, has issued an official statement regarding the enforcement action by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) which froze all of the TBIS assets in a court ordered emergency action. TBIS raised approximately $21 million in… Read More

May 29, 2018 @ 9:26 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has received a court approved emergency asset freeze and the appointment of a receiver for Titanium Blockchain Infrastructure Services (TBIS) pertaining to an initial coin offering (ICO). Between November 2017 through at least January 2018, the ICO succeeded in raising as… Read More

May 25, 2018 @ 3:42 pm By JD Alois  |  

Last week, while New York City saw thousands of cryptocurrency enthusiasts discuss the benefits of digital assets and blockchain, a House Financial Services subcommittee reviewed initial coin offerings with the leaders of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Enforcement Division. The Congressional Hearing provided a… Read More

May 4, 2018 @ 1:24 pm By JD Alois  |  

Commodity Futures and Trading Commission (CFTC) Commissioner Brian Quintenz commented on cryptocurrency enforcement actions this week. During a speech delivered to the FIA’s 40th Annual Law and Compliance Conference, Quintenz noted that the CFTC Crypto task force is coordinating with their counterparts at the Securities… Read More

May 4, 2018 @ 11:21 am By JD Alois  |  

Longfin Corp. has announced its intent to “voluntarily” delist from the NASDAQ. The move comes as an ongoing enforcement action by the Securities and Exchange Commission saw allegations of illegal distributions and sales of restricted shares. Longfin raised capital using the Reg A+ crowdfunding exemption… Read More

May 1, 2018 @ 8:23 am By Cali Haan  |  

The Autorite Des Marches Financiers, regulator of financial markets in Quebec, has sanctioned the operators of two ICOs (Initial Coin Offerings). According to an April 19 press release from the AMF, after an ‘ex parte’ hearing on April 13th, the Administrative Financial Markets Tribunal (TMF):… Read More

April 26, 2018 @ 9:57 am By JD Alois  |  

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) in Japan has hit another cryptocurrency exchange with an enforcement action. According to the FSA’s site, “Everyone’s Bitcoin” has received an “administrative punishment” for not abiding by compliance rules for cryptocurrency exchanges. The FSA states that due to reports from… Read More

April 24, 2018 @ 8:21 am By JD Alois  |  

Longfin Corp. (NASDAQ:LFIN), is reporting that Judge Denise L. Cote has vacated the Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) that froze the assets of the company. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) obtained a court order freezing more than $27 million in trading proceeds from allegedly illegal… Read More

April 23, 2018 @ 7:32 am By David Felsenthal and Jesse Overall  |  

In this article we discuss a number of lessons that we believe issuers of digital tokens can draw from recent enforcement actions brought by federal and state securities regulators. But we first need to define the perimeter we will be covering. There has been a… Read More

April 21, 2018 @ 2:12 pm By JD Alois  |  

Arthur Breitman, AKA Arthur Meunier, was sanctioned by FINRA this past week for his dealings with the infamous Tezos initial coin offering (ICO) that raised approximately $232 million. Breitman signed the document on April 17th and it was accepted by FINRA on the next day. … Read More

April 20, 2018 @ 2:15 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has released additional fraud charges affiliated with the Centra Tech $32 million initial coin offering (ICO) that raised money in 2017. Ealier this month, the SEC filed a complaint against Centra Tech, Sohrab “Sam” Sharma and Robert Farkas regarding… Read More

April 18, 2018 @ 11:08 am By JD Alois  |  

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has fired off another enforcement action against a questionable cryptocurrency operation. The CFTC has charged multiple individuals, and several companies, with fraud involving ATM Coin (asset trading market coin) and binary options. The CFTC filed the Complaint in the… Read More

April 15, 2018 @ 2:41 pm By JD Alois  |  

Renwick Haddow, a UK national, was extradited from Morocco to the US for committing fraud that saw over $36 million stolen from investors. The extradition is just part of a long criminal saga by Haddow. Last year, the SEC joined the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the… Read More

April 7, 2018 @ 7:27 pm By JD Alois  |  

Longfin Corp. (NASDAQ:LFIN) was hit with a formal request by NASDAQ to provide additional information regarding recent trading activity. The shares were placed on a T12 trading halt on Friday as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a formal complaint against Longfin that included… Read More

April 5, 2018 @ 1:00 pm By JD Alois  |  

My Big Coin (MBC) was hit with an enforcement action by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) back in January of this year. The CFTC alleged, among other things, that MBC’s initial coin offering represented to investors as being actively traded on cryptocurrency exchanges when in fact… Read More

April 3, 2018 @ 1:06 pm By JD Alois  |  

So what is it with boxers and bogus initial coin offerings? The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed a complaint alleging securities fraud with another ICO. This time it is Centra Tech, the creation of Sohrab “Sam” Sharma and Robert Farkas. The ICO reportedly… Read More

March 29, 2018 @ 8:05 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has posted an update regarding the ongoing case against AriseBank and their initial coin offering which has been deemed a scam by the regulator. This same ICO was pumped by famous boxer Evander Holyfield. In fact, a press release was issued… Read More

March 27, 2018 @ 7:16 pm By JD Alois  |  

The State of Massachusetts Securities Division, under the direction of Secretary William Galvin, has issued a series of Consent Orders pertaining to five different initial coin offerings (ICOs). The following issuers received the orders: 18Moons, Inc Across Platforms, Inc. DBA ClickableTV SparkCo Inc, DBA Librium… Read More