Tagged: enforcement

December 8, 2018 @ 1:14 pm By Cali Haan  |  

The SEC has settled with CoinAlpha Advisors LLC, a Delaware-registered, California-based company the Commission says sold a cryptocurrency investment fund product without registering with the SEC or qualifying for a securities exemption. According to the cease-and-desist order issued Friday, December 7th, CoinAlpha Advisors formed in… Read More

December 5, 2018 @ 12:00 pm By Scott Schirick  |  

November was a busy month for the SEC’s burgeoning regulation of digital assets. In the first action of its kind, the Commission brought enforcement proceedings against the founder of digital asset trading platform EtherDelta for operating as an unregistered securities “exchange.” Ten days later, the… Read More

November 29, 2018 @ 6:46 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has settled charges against two high-profile initial coin offering (ICO) promoters.  Music producer DJ Khaled and boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. were cited for failing to disclose they were remunerated for promoting ICOs via their social media channels. The SEC… Read More

November 28, 2018 @ 5:29 pm By Cali Haan  |  

  The Texas State Securities Board (TSSB) has issued an emergency cease-and-desist order against an accused serial fraudster, Mark Steven Royer. Mr. Royer is allegedly selling the “My Crypto Mine” project, which bears the features of a pyramid scheme. Earlier this year, Royer and two partners… Read More

November 26, 2018 @ 10:46 am By JD Alois  |  

On November 16th, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced its first enforcement actions against initial coin offerings (ICOs) that did not file for an appropriate securities exemption following the SEC’s DAO report. The SEC settled claims with both Paragon and AirFox with each ICO issuer… Read More

November 21, 2018 @ 5:56 am By Onki Kwan  |  

Last Friday, the SEC settled charges against two companies, CarrierEQ Inc. dba Airfox (“Airfox”) and Paragon Coin Inc. (“Paragon”), which raised money with initial coin offerings (“ICOs”).  The SEC found that both companies violated the registration provisions of the U.S. securities laws because neither company… Read More

November 19, 2018 @ 3:20 am By JD Alois  |  

Cannabis focused blockchain startup Paragon (Paragon Coin) has issued a press release following the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) announcement last week that Paragon had settled with the SEC regarding charges of issuing an unregistered security. Paragon was one of two ICOs that were deemed… Read More

November 16, 2018 @ 3:58 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a rare statement on the issuance of digital assets that are securities. The statement comes following the release of two initial coin offering (ICO) enforcement actions for issuers that raised money after the SEC published the landmark DAO… Read More

November 16, 2018 @ 3:13 pm By Cali Haan  |  

The first person to be prosecuted in the US for ICO (initial coin offering) fraud has pleaded guilty to misleading 1000 investors, Bloomberg reports. On Thursday, Maksim Zaslavskiy, 39, admitted in a Brooklyn federal courtroom that he collected money for two ICOs: RECoin and Diamond… Read More

November 16, 2018 @ 12:04 pm By Cali Haan  |  

This has been a big week for digital asset / ICO law in America. Yesterday, Maksim Zaslavskiy pleaded guilty to fraud in a federal court in Brooklyn for selling the digital tokens RECoin and Diamond Reserve Coin, tokens he falsely claimed were backed by real-world… Read More

November 15, 2018 @ 3:20 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Enforcement Director James M. McDonald delivered a speech yesterday addressing current trends regarding enforcement actions and, of course, crypto and virtual currencies were on the list. Speaking at the NYU School of Law, McDonald said the Commission is adapting… Read More

November 8, 2018 @ 3:27 pm By JD Alois  |  

Today, the first enforcement action was taken by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) against a cryptocurrency exchange; EtherDelta. Prior to this, the SEC had only targeted issuers and promoters of crypto – largely for fraud and selling unregistered securities.  While the action against EtherData is… Read More

November 7, 2018 @ 2:57 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Texas State Securities Board has issued an emergency cease and desist order to two ostensible cryptocurrency miners. Yesterday, the C&Ds were placed against Quebec, Canada-based EXY Crypto, and AWS Mining PTY Ltd., based in Sydney, Australia. Texas Securities Commissioner Travis J. Iles issued a statement indicating the… Read More

November 5, 2018 @ 8:02 am By JD Alois  |  

On Friday, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Division of Enforcement, issued their annual report updating on fiscal 2018 enforcement actions. According to the report, 2018 was a busy year as more than 821 enforcement actions occurred, representing a “diverse mix” of securities law transgressions…. Read More

October 22, 2018 @ 9:15 am By Cali Haan  |  

Gal Vallerius, a dual French-Israeli citizen from the Brittany region of France, was sentenced to 20 years in prison earlier this month after pleading guilty to, “conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute controlled substances and conspiracy to launder money,” court documents indicate. Mr Vallerius,… Read More

October 19, 2018 @ 9:01 am By JD Alois  |  

The North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA), the group that represents state, provincial and territorial securities regulators, has published their annual enforcement report for 2017. Each year, NASAA correlates a summary of all the legal actions, including penalties and criminal prosecution from the US, Canada and… Read More

October 18, 2018 @ 3:42 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission has obtained final judgement against Richard J. Greenlaw, a founder of a medical marijuana company. According to the SEC, Greenlaw created 20 affiliated entities and then raised $500,000 from investors by using Craigslist – the popular online classified site. The twenty cannabis-related… Read More

October 18, 2018 @ 1:57 pm By JD Alois  |  

Last week, the North Dakota Securities Commissioner Karen Tyler issued three separate Cease & Desist (C&D) orders against three initial coin offerings (ICOs). The new C&Ds are part of an ongoing initiative by the Commissioner and the Department’s ICO Task Force which is investigating questionable… Read More

October 12, 2018 @ 3:07 pm By Cali Haan  |  

The American Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has been following up on “scores” of subpoenas it sent in January to companies issuing ICOs (initial coin offerings) and is now focussing on those and “many more” that sold ICOs to unaccredited investors, Yahoo Finance reports. Based… Read More

October 11, 2018 @ 12:05 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has taken action against an initial coin offering (ICO) that falsely claimed to be approved by the SEC. The enforcement action was filed against Blockvest LLC and company founder Reginald Buddy Ringgold, III. Additionally, the SEC obtained an emergency… Read More