The Texas State Securities Board has issued an emergency cease and desist order to a cloud mining company for fraud and non-compliance with securities legislation.
Regulators Clamping Down
Cloud cryptocurrency mining company AWS Mining PTY LTD has been slapped with a formal emergency cease and desist order by the Texas State Securities Board.
According to the regulator, the investments in the cryptocurrency mining program operated by the company are deemed securities as per the definition of the term in the Securities Act. As such, the company is in violation of the latter as it offers them at a time when they haven’t been registered with the Securities Commissioner.
Furthermore, another conclusion of the regulator notes that the company is engaging in fraud in connection with the offer for the sale of securities.
According to the order:
Respondents are engaging in fraud in connection with the offer for sale of securities. Respondents are making offers containing statements that are materially misleading or otherwise likely to deceive the public.
A Firm Position
This is far from the first cease and desist order sent to the cryptocurrency-related business in the recent months. The position of regulators seems to be particularly clear regarding compliance with securities regulations.
Just a month ago the Securities Commissioner of North Dakota issued formal cease and desist orders to three companies who were allegedly promoting fraudulent initial coin offerings.
Apart from that, Live Bitcoin News also reported on August 28 that the Securities Commissioner of Colorado served other three companies with C&D orders.
At this point, it’s pretty clear that regulators deem the majority of ICO-issued tokens to be a form of securities. As such, they ought to comply with the existing regulations.
What do you think about the actions of the Texas securities regulator? Let us know in the comments below!
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