The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) suspended trading of QMMM Holdings’ shares following a dramatic 2000% increase.
In early September, the firm announced plans to purchase Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana. According to Yahoo.Finance, less than a month after the announcement, its stock price surged from $7.5 to the current $119, with peak values reaching $303.
“The SEC temporarily froze trading of QMMM securities due to potential manipulation,” the regulator’s notice stated.
The suspension was imposed for 10 business days starting from September 29.
According to the agency’s statement, the alleged manipulation “was carried out through purchase recommendations to investors by unknown individuals via social media.” The regulator believes these actions were likely aimed at artificially inflating the price and trading volume.
Hong Kong-based QMMM Holdings intended to increase its crypto treasury to $100 million.
The trading halt followed a WSJ report that the SEC and FINRA initiated an investigation into DAT structures. The initiative covered over 200 issuers who disclosed cryptocurrency holdings in their reserves.
Regulators were drawn to the unusual activity of such firms, whose stock prices rose ahead of announcements about digital asset purchases.
According to BitcoinTreasuries, there are currently 196 DAT companies. They manage over 1 million BTC valued at more than $110 billion, accounting for 4.6% of the total supply of digital gold.
Bloomberg reported that a group of influential crypto industry veterans is forming a new trend—a boom in digital treasuries.