| SEC v. Telegram Group Inc., et al. |
The Commission filed an emergency action and obtained a temporary restraining order against two offshore entities conducting an alleged unregistered, ongoing digital token offering in the U.S. and overseas that has raised more than $1.7 billion of investor funds. |
10/11/2019 |
| Block.one |
The Commission filed a settled cease-and-desist proceeding against a blockchain technology company for conducting an unregistered initial coin offering of digital tokens that raised the equivalent of several billion dollars over approximately one year. |
9/30/2019 |
| SEC v. Lucas |
The Commission filed a complaint against Jonathan C. Lucas, the former founder and chief executive officer of Fantasy Market, a purported online adult entertainment marketplace, for allegedly orchestrating a fraudulent initial coin offering. |
9/20/2019 |
| SEC v. ICOBox, et al. |
The Commission filed a complaint against ICOBox and its founder Nikolay Evdokimov alleging that they conducted an illegal $14 million securities offering of ICOBox’s digital tokens and acted as unregistered brokers for other digital asset offerings. |
9/18/2019 |
| SEC v. Bitqyck, Inc., et al. |
The Commission filed a settled district court action against an entity and two individuals that violated the registration and anti-fraud provisions of the Securities and Exchange Acts by offering and selling two unregistered digital asset securities, and the entity violated Section 5 of the Exchange Act by operating an unregistered national securities exchange, which the individuals aided and abetted. |
8/29/2019 |
| ICO Rating |
The Commission filed a settled cease-and-desist proceeding against Russian entity ICO Rating for violating Section 17(b) of the Securities Act by failing to disclose payments received from issuers for publicizing their digital asset securities offerings. |
8/20/2019 |
| SimplyVital Health, Inc. |
The Commission filed a settled cease-and-desist proceeding against a New England-based blockchain company for offering and selling approximately $6.3 million of securities to the public in unregistered transactions. |
8/12/2019 |
| SEC v. Middleton, et al. |
The Commission obtained an emergency asset freeze against Veritaseum, Inc., Veritaseum, LLC and Reginald ("Reggie") Middleton, alleging that the defendants violated the antifraud provisions and engaged in an unregistered offering of digital securities. |
8/12/2019
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| SEC v. Longfin Corp., et al. |
The Commission filed an additional action against Longfin Corp. and its CEO asserting fraud claims for allegedly falsifying the company's revenue and, together with a former Longfin consultant, for fraudulently securing the company's listing on Nasdaq. |
6/5/2019
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| SEC v. Kik Interactive Inc. |
The Commission filed a complaint against an ICO issuer for raising $100 million in an alleged unregistered securities offering that did not qualify for an exemption. |
6/4/2019 |
| SEC v. Pacheco |
The Commission filed a litigated district court action against the operator of an alleged $26.5 million pyramid scheme that enticed investors with points that were convertible into a cryptocurrency. |
5/22/2019 |
| NextBlock Global Ltd. and Alex Tapscott |
The Commission filed settled cease-and-desist proceedings against a Canadian corporation and its co-founder and former CEO for allegedly making misrepresentations in connection with a securities offering that raised $16 million to invest in blockchain companies and digital assets. |
5/14/2019 |
| SEC v. Natural Diamonds Investment Co., et al. |
The Commission obtained an emergency court order halting an alleged ongoing $30 million Ponzi scheme targeting more than 300 investors in the U.S. and Canada. Argyle Coin, LLC, a purported cryptocurrency business, and its principal lured investors by falsely claiming an investment in Argyle Coin was risk-free because it was backed by fancy colored diamonds, and promising to use investor funds to develop the cryptocurrency business. |
5/13/2019 |
| Mutual Coin Fund LLC and Usman Majeed |
The Commission filed settled cease-and-desist proceedings against a Michigan-based hedge fund manager and its principal for making misrepresentations and engaging in the unregistered, non-exempt sale of limited partnership interests in a fund it managed that invested in digital assets. |
4/1/2019 |
| Gladius Network LLC |
The Commission filed a settled cease-and-desist proceeding against a Washington, D.C.-based company that raised $12.7 million in an unregistered, non-exempt ICO and then self-reported to the Commission. |
2/20/2019 |
| CoinAlpha Advisors LLC |
The Commission filed settled cease-and-desist proceedings against a California-based hedge fund manager for engaging in the unregistered, non-exempt sale of limited partnership interests in a fund it managed that invested in digital assets. |
12/7/2018 |
| Floyd Mayweather, Jr. |
The Commission filed settled cease-and-desist proceedings against a celebrity who promoted ICOs on social media without disclosing the fact and amount of compensation he received from the issuers for the promotions. |
11/29/2018 |
| Khaled Khaled ("DJ Khaled") |
The Commission filed settled cease-and-desist proceedings against a celebrity who promoted an ICO on social media without disclosing the fact and amount of compensation he received from the issuer for the promotions. |
11/29/2018 |
| Paragon Coin, Inc. |
The Commission filed a settled cease-and-desist proceeding against an online company, Paragon Coin, in connection with its unregistered offering of tokens in an ICO that raised approximately $12 million to implement blockchain technology in the cannabis industry. The Commission concluded that the PRG tokens were securities, and that the offering did not qualify from any exemption from registration. |
11/16/2018 |
| CarrierEQ, Inc., d/b/a Airfox |
The Commission filed a settled cease-and-desist proceeding against a Boston-based start-up, Airfox, in connection with its unregistered offering of tokens in an ICO that raised approximately $15 million to develop a token-denominated “ecosystem.” The Commission concluded that the AIR tokens were securities, and that the offering did not qualify from any exemption from registration. |
11/16/2018 |
| Zachary Coburn |
The Commission filed a settled cease-and-desist proceeding against the founder of a digital asset trading platform for secondary market trading of ERC20 tokens, EtherDelta, for causing the trading platform to operate as an unregistered national securities exchange. |
11/8/2018 |
| SEC v. Blockvest LLC, et al. |
The Commission obtained an emergency court order halting a planned ICO and ongoing pre-ICO sales. The Commission alleged that Blockvest and its founder falsely claimed they received regulatory approval from various agencies (including the SEC) for the ICO, used the SEC seal without permission and a made-up regulatory agency to promote the ICO, and falsely claimed that Blockvest would be the first “licensed and regulated” cryptocurrency fund. |
10/11/2018 |
| SEC v. 1pool Ltd. a.k.a. 1Broker, et al. |
The Commission charged 1Broker and its CEO with registration violations in connection with their overseas trading platform that exclusively used bitcoins and offered and sold to U.S. residents Contracts for Difference that track U.S.-listed securities and are security-based swaps. The Commission also alleged that 1Broker and its CEO failed to register the offer and sale of the products, failed to transact these products on a registered national exchange, performed no know-your-customer (KYC) inquiries, and acted as an unregistered dealer. |
9/27/2018 |
| TokenLot LLC, Lenny Kugel, and Eli Lewitt |
The Commission filed settled administrative proceedings against a Michigan-based company and self-described “ICO Superstore” and its two owners for operating as unregistered broker-dealers in digital tokens sold in connection with ICOs and secondary market activities. |
9/11/2018 |
| Crypto Asset Management, LP and Timothy Enneking |
The Commission filed settled administrative proceedings against a California-based hedge fund manager and its sole principal for offering a fund formed to invest in digital assets that operated as an unregistered investment company while falsely marketing it as the "first regulated crypto asset fund in the United States." |
9/11/2018 |
| Tomahawk Exploration LLC and David T. Laurance |
The Commission obtained officer-and-director and penny stock bars in a settlement with the founder of a company responsible for a fraudulent ICO to fund oil exploration and drilling. |
8/14/2018 |
| SEC v. Jesky, et al. |
The Commission filed a settled district court action against two individuals who illegally sold restricted shares in UBI Blockchain Internet Ltd. at high market prices instead of the fixed price under a registration statement. The Commission previously suspended trading in the stock. The two individuals agreed to return approximately $1.4 million in ill-gotten gains and more than $188,000 in penalties. |
7/2/2018 |
| SEC v. Titanium Blockchain Infrastructure Services Inc., et al. |
The Commission obtained a court order halting an alleged ongoing fraud involving an ICO. The court also approved an emergency asset freeze and the appointment of a receiver. |
5/22/2018 |
| SEC v. Sharma, et al. |
The Commission filed an amended complaint to the April 2, 2018, district court action against a third member of Centra Tech, Inc., a purported financial services start-up, charging him with orchestrating a fraudulent ICO. |
4/20/2018 |
| SEC v. Longfin Corp., et al. |
The Commission filed a district court action and obtained an emergency asset freeze against Longfin Corp., its CEO and three of its affiliates, alleging that the company and its CEO engaged in an unregistered distribution of securities and the three affiliates sold unregistered securities after the company announced a related-party acquisition of a purported cryptocurrency website, causing a dramatic increase its stock price. |
4/6/2018 |
| SEC v. Sharma, et al. |
The Commission filed a district court action against two co-founders of Centra Tech, Inc., a purported financial services start-up, charging them with orchestrating an allegedly fraudulent ICO. |
4/2/2018 |
| SEC v. Montroll, et al. |
The Commission filed a district court action against a former bitcoin-denominated platform and its operator for allegedly operating an unregistered securities exchange and defrauding users of that exchange. The SEC also charged the operator with making alleged false and misleading statements in connection with an unregistered offering of securities. |
2/21/2018 |
|
SEC v. AriseBank, et al.
Jared Rice Sr. and Stanley Ford
|
The Commission filed a district court action and obtained an emergency asset freeze against an allegedly fraudulent ICO that claimed to run the world’s first “decentralized bank.” The Commission later settled with two former executives behind the allegedly fraudulent ICO in December 2018. |
1/25/2018
12/11/2018
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| In re Munchee, Inc |
The Commission filed a settled cease-and-desist order against a California-based company selling digital tokens in an unregistered offering to investors to raise capital for its blockchain-based food review service. |
12/11/2017 |
| SEC v. PlexCorps, et al. |
The Commission filed a district court action and obtained an emergency asset freeze against a recidivist Quebec securities law violator, Dominic Lacroix, and his company, PlexCorps. |
12/1/2017 |
| SEC v. REcoin Group Foundation, LLC, et al. |
The Commission charged Maksim Zaslavskiy and his two companies for allegedly defrauding investors in a pair of so-called initial coin offerings (ICOs) purportedly backed by investments in real estate and diamonds (Recoin Group Foundation and Diamond Reserve Club). |
9/29/2017 |
| Report of Investigation Pursuant to Section 21(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934: The DAO |
The Commission issued a Report of Investigation concerning the application of the U.S. federal securities laws to the offer and sale of DAO Tokens, which were virtual tokens created and distributed on a blockchain by an entity called “The DAO.” |
7/25/2017 |
| SEC v. Renwick Haddow, et al. |
The Commission filed a district court action and obtained an emergency asset freeze against Renwick Haddow, the founder of a purported Bitcoin holding-and-trading platform and a chain of co-working spaces, alleging that he defrauded investors in both companies while also hiding his connection given his past disciplinary history with U.K. regulators. |
6/30/2017 |
| In re Bitcoin Investment Trust and SecondMarket, Inc. |
The Commission filed a settled administrative proceeding against SecondMarket, Inc., a New York broker-dealer registered with the Commission, and Bitcoin Investment Trust (BIT), a Delaware trust whose sole assets are bitcoins. Each agreed to settle charges that they respectively violated Rules 101 and 102 of Regulation M under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 in connection with their purchases of BIT shares during a continuous distribution. |
7/11/2016 |
| SEC v. Garza, et al. |
The Commission charged Garza and his two bitcoin mining companies with conducting an alleged Ponzi scheme by offering shares – called “Hashlets” – in a bitcoin mining operation that did not have enough computing power for the mining they promised to conduct. |
12/1/2015 |
| In re Sand Hill Exchange, et al. |
In June 2015, the SEC filed a settled administrative action against 2 entrepreneurs who offered and sold security-based swaps through a website called Sand Hill exchange and sought people to fund accounts at Sand Hill using dollars or bitcoins. |
6/17/2015 |
| In re BTC Trading, Corp. and Ethan Burnside |
The Commission brought a settled administrative proceeding against Burnside, a video game programmer and bitcoin hobbyist, for (a) operating two online venues for trading securities – BTC Virtual Stock Exchange and LTC-Global Virtual Stock Exchange – using bitcoin and litecoin without registering the sites as broker-dealers or stock exchanges, and (b) conducting two unregistered offerings, one in LTC-Global itself, and another in a litecoin mining venture he owned and operated. |
12/8/2014 |
| In re Erik T. Voorhees |
The Commission charged Voorhees, a Bitcoin entrepreneur with the offer and sale of unregistered securities in SatoshiDICE, a well-known bitcoin betting game, and FeedZeBirds, a social media marketing venture. |
6/3/2014 |
| SEC v. Shavers |
The Commission charged Shavers and his company with defrauding investors in a bitcoin-denominated Ponzi scheme, raising more than 700,000 bitcoins in principal investments from BTCST investors, and falsely promising of up to 7% weekly returns based on BTCST’s purported bitcoin market arbitrage activity. |
7/23/2013 |