• The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a cease-and-desist order against crypto exchange giant Coinme and its business subsidiary Up Global Inc. for conducting an unregistered coin offering of the cryptocurrency UpToken.
• Both companies, along with their founder and CEO, Neil Bergquist, were ordered to pay fines totaling $3.9 million for alleged fraudulent activities related to the ICO.
• The SEC report revealed that Coinme and related parties misled investors by claiming a total of $18.5 million had been raised from the ICO when it was only $3.65 million.
SEC Issues Cease-and-Desist Order Against Coinme
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has recently issued a cease-and-desist order against crypto exchange giant Coinme and its business subsidiary Up Global Inc., accusing them of conducting an unregistered Initial Coin Offering (ICO). 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 for alleged fraudulent activities related to the ICO in question – UpToken – which was based on Ethereum technology.
Details Of The Case
Back in 2017, Coinme and Up Global launched the ICO in an effort to raise funds that would be used to expand their ATM operations across the country; they managed to generate a sum of $3.65 million from this endeavor, part of which was used as intended while the remainder went towards other corporate purposes instead. However, according to what the SEC stated in its Friday settlement report regarding this case; Uptoken constituted a security under U.S financial laws but was marketed as an investment contract without being properly registered as one thus violating federal securities regulations set forth by said regulatory agency; this means all parties involved in this ICO are accused of selling an unregistered security among other charges mentioned below:
Misleading Investors
According to what the SEC states in its report; Up Global and Bergquist falsely informed potential investors that they were limiting supply when it came to UpToken while also falsely claiming that Coinme would always need more tokens for their ATM rewards program thus leading investors into thinking that price would steadily increase over time due certain factors put forth by said company’s executives; however it is important to note that without being aware potential investors did not know about certain steps taken by both firms before and during said ICO such as internal transactions between each other as well as some involving Hong Kong affiliates which could have impacted price significantly if known beforehand amongst other aspects uncovered by investigative agencies during recent investigations carried out leading up to this settlement agreement between all parties involved here today .
Fines And Penalties
As mentioned previously all parties involved have been fined collectively with amounts totalling up at around $3.9 million for misleading statements made when marketing UpToken whilst also falsely claiming that 19$million had been raised through said InitialCoinOffering when it was only 3$.65 Million dollars; this is yet another example where regulatory bodies are taking action against nefarious activities within CryptoCurrency industry alongside recent news such as DOJ’s investigation into BitMEX owners which might lead into more cases similar these ones seen here today so stay tuned!
Conclusion
In conclusion; this recent cease-and-desist order issued by SEC against crypto exchange giant Coinme & its related entities serves as another example how serious authorities are taking actions ensure fair practices within CryptoCurrency space especially now more than ever given recent events such those involving BitMEX owners & many others making headlines recently so make sure you do your own research before investing any kind money digital assets or otherwise!