The Texas State Securities Board (TSSB) issued three emergency orders ceasing the activities of 14 cryptocurrency companies. In a press release, the regulator describes them as investment scammers.
The first order concerns ten entities and a related individual — James Blandell. The TSSB contends that, through social-media accounts, he offered investments in binary options, forex products and cryptocurrencies.
Blandell backed his claims with a license the regulator regards as fraudulent. Among the projects named by the TSSB as belonging to the alleged fraudster were Proactive Expert Trading, AntPoolTop Mining, CryptoTradeFXWay and ExpertTrades247.
The second document mentions three companies: Binary Trade Forex, FX Trades and IQTrade. According to the regulator, they are not registered to trade securities in the state.
In the third order, the TSSB refers to an investment forex platform, GenuisPlanFxPro. The company claimed to hold several international licences.
Regulators pointed to a key characteristic shared by these fraudulent investment platforms: an active online presence designed to attract victims.
“Disreputable market participants know how to use social media and websites to create the appearance of legitimate operations,” the statement said.
That is not the first time the Texas regulator has taken action against dubious cryptocurrency companies. In 2017 the TSSB secured a court order to halt USI-Tech Limited, accusing it of illegally promoting bitcoin investment products.
In 2018 the board issued a similar order against the cryptocurrency project Bitconnect. The document stated that the tokens issued were not registered and violated state law.
In April 2020, the TSSB halted the operations of the mining firm Ultra BTC Mining LLC. It had raised $18 million from investors but was not registered in Texas and did not disclose financial results.
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