Veröffentlicht von • The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has issued a cease-and-desist order against crypto exchange giant Coinme and its business subsidiary Up Global Inc. for conducting an unregistered and disingenuous coin offering of the cryptocurrency UpToken.
• In addition, both companies, along with their founder and CEO, Neil Bergquist, have been ordered to pay fines summing up to a total of $3.9 million.
• The SEC stated that Uptoken was marketed and sold to investors as an investment contract and is considered a security under U.S. financial laws; thus, all parties involved in the ICO were accused of selling an unregistered security.
SEC Charges Crypto Exchange Giant Coinme
The U.S Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged crypto exchange giant Coinme with conducting an unregistered coin offering of the cryptocurrency UpToken in 2017 and ordered them to pay fines summing up to a total of $3.9 million along with their subsidiary Up Global Inc., founder and CEO Neil Bergquist.
UpToken A Security Under US Financial Laws
The SEC ruled that UpToken was marketed as an investment contract therefore being considered as a security under US financial laws and all parties involved were accused of selling an unregistered securities in violation of US federal regulations.
Coinme Acquired Substantial Amount Of Tokens Before ICO
The SEC also revealed that Coinme had taken steps to acquire substantial amounts of the asset before the ICO began including internal transaction between Coinme & Up Global as well as a roundtrip transaction involving a Hong Kong-affiliated company without informing investors about it which led them into believing that they would benefit from this increase in price due to limited supply but instead became victims of false information given by Coinme & related parties claiming $18 million raised from the ICO when only $3.65 million was actually generated from it .
Fines Summing To Total Of $3 Million Issued By SEC
As punishment for their actions, all involved parties were issued fines summing up to a total amount of $3 million by the SEC for misleading investors about limiting supply of tokens leading them into believing falsely that investing in it would result in future increase in prices due to increased demand generated by ATM rewards program set up by Coinme which needed these tokens for transactions at ATMs across country & other corporate purposes like expansion plans etc..
Coinme Settles With SEC To Avoid Prosecution
In order to avoid prosecution, Coinme & other involved entities have agreed on settlement with SEC which includes paying fine totalling up to 3 million dollars & ceasing any further activities related to offering or sale unauthorized securities within United States or its territories while simultaneously providing accurate information regarding offers/ sales done so far when requested by regulator in future if deemed necessary at any time during ongoing investigations against firm or entity associated with it