Cryptocurrency

October 15, 2021

iFinex Inc. and related entities doing business as cryptocurrency trading platform Bitfinex, agreed to pay $1.5 million to resolve charges that they operated as an unregistered futures commission merchant (FCM) and engaged in illegal, off-exchange retail commodity transactions in digital assets with U.S. persons that were not eligible contract participants (ECPs).  The CFTC found that Bitfinex allowed margin trading financed through a peer-to-peer funding program through which Bitfinex customers who held fiat or cryptocurrency in their Bitfinex account would “lend” those funds to other Bitfinex customers who would then use those funds to buy, sell, and trade on the Bitfinex platform, in violation of a 2016 CFTC order.  CFTC

October 15, 2021

Tether Holdings Limited and related entities, issuers of the “Tether Token” or USDt, have agreed to pay a civil monetary penalty of $41 million to resolve allegations that they violated the CEA and CFTC regulations by making untrue or misleading statements and/or omitting material facts through statements that Tether maintained sufficient U.S. dollar and other fiat currency reserves in bank accounts to back every USDt in circulation.  In fact, Tether did not hold sufficient currency reserves at all times.  The reserves were inadequate in amount, and were not held in currency in bank accounts, but instead included unsecured receivables and non-fiat assets, which were held by unregulated entities and third-parties including Bitfinex, which commingled reserve funds with operational and customer funds.  The CFTC also found that Tether failed to perform routine professional audits as represented.  CFTC

September 28, 2021

Payward Ventures, Inc., d/b/a Kraken has been ordered to pay a $1.25 million civil monetary penalty for violating the Commodity Exchange Act.  According to the CFTC, for a year ending in July 2021, Kraken illegally offered commodity transactions in retail assets, despite failing to register as a futures commission merchant.  CFTC

September 13, 2021

GTV Media Group Inc., Saraca Media Group Inc., and Voice of Guo Media Inc. will collectively pay more than $539 million to resolve SEC and New York State claims related to their alleged unregistered offering of GTV common stock and a digital asset security referred to as G-Coins or G-Dollars.  The SEC found that the respondents publicized the two offerings on their websites and social media platforms, raising approximately $487 million from more than 5,000 investors.  No registration statements were filed, and no registration exemption applied.  Without admitting or denying the SEC’s findings, respondents agreed to pay disgorgement of $486 million plus interest, and penalties totaling $35 million.  SEC; NY

August 10, 2021

The principles of the Global Trading Club, Mayco Alexis Maldonado Garcia, Cesar Castaneda, and Joel Castaneda Garcia, consented to an order requiring payments totaling $1.75 million in restitution and civil penalties.  The CFTC alleged that the individual falsely represented that GTC employed “master traders” in cryptocurrency transactions, promised returns to customers, and caused misleading trading statements to be posted online.  The order bars the individuals from registering with the CFTC and from trading commodity interests.  CFTC

August 10, 2021

Five companies that operate the BitMEX cryptocurrency platform will pay a total of $100 million to resolve claims that the platform operated a facility to trade or process swaps without being approved as a Designated Contract Market (DCM) or a Swap Execution Facility (SEF), operated as an unregistered futures commission merchant (FCM), and failed to implement anti-money laundering procedures.  HDR Global Trading Limited, 100x Holding Limited, ABS Global Trading Limited, Shine Effort Inc Limited, and HDR Global Services (Bermuda) Limited jointly operated BitMEX, which offered leveraged trading of cryptocurrency derivatives, including to customers in the U.S.  BitMEX acted as a counterparty in certain transactions, and accepted bitcoin to margin digital asset derivative transactions.  BitMEX allowed customers to access its platform and conduct derivative trading without verifying customer identity beyond the collection of an email address, and failed to report suspicious activity as required. As part of the settlement, BitMEX certified that it terminated its U.S. business operations, barred access to the platform by U.S. customers, and had undertaken verification procedures for existing customers.  $50 million of the $100 million penalty will be paid to the CFTC, with $30 million of the remainder paid immediately to FinCEN, and an additional $20 million to FinCEN suspended pending defendants’ undertaking of specific compliance procedures.  CFTC; FinCEN

August 9, 2021

Cryptocurrency trading platform Poloniex LLC has agreed to pay more than $10 million in disgorgement, interest, and penalties to settle charges that it operated an unregistered online digital asset exchange.  The SEC found that between 2017 and 2019 the Poloniex trading platform met the criteria of an “exchange” as defined by the securities laws but was neither registered as a national securities exchange nor subject to an exemption from registration. SEC

August 6, 2021

Blockchain Credit Partners, which did business as DeFi Money Market, and its principals, Gregory Keough and Derek Acree, have agreed to disgorge $12.85 million and cease and desist from the unregistered sale of securities using smart contracts and so-called “decentralized finance” (DeFi) technology.  The SEC found that defendants offered and sold mTokens and DMG governance tokens purporting to pay interest and profits, and told purchasers that that DeFi Money Market would pay them those amounts by using investor assets to buy “real world” income-generating assets like car loans. However, these income-generating assets did not generate enough income to cover appreciation of the investors’ principal, largely as a result of the price volatility of the digital assets used to purchase the tokens.  Rather than disclose this to investors, defendants used other funds, including personal funds, to make principal and interest payments for mToken redemptions. Keough and Acree have each also agreed to pay penalties of $125,000.  SEC

July 2, 2021

Roger Nils-Jonas Karlsson of Sweden has been sentenced to 15 years in prison and ordered to forfeit more than $16 million, including several properties and a resort in Thailand, in one of the largest cryptocurrency Ponzi schemes ever prosecuted in the United States.  Starting in 2011 until his arrest in Thailand in 2019, Karlsson induced thousands of investors from around the country and over 45 countries around the world to use cryptocurrency to purchase shares in an entity he called Eastern Metal Securities, by falsely claiming that it was run by award-winning economists and had zero risk of loss.  He then misappropriated at least $1.5 million to fund a lavish lifestyle for himself.  USAO NDCA; DOJ; SEC