The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) accused the now defunct Coinschedule.com of violating federal securities laws and fined it about $ 200,000.
The site ran from 2016 to 2019, and was popular with American investors. The portal provided information on more than 2,500 initial token offerings (ICOs) with ratings. The creators of the site claimed that they used their own algorithm to assess the reliability of cryptocurrency startups and assess the risks.
However, according to the regulator’s accusations, Coinschedule did not inform potential investors that it received material rewards from token issuers for positive reviews and ratings on the site. Blotics, formerly known as Coinschedule, is now required to pay a fine of $ 154,434, plus $ 43,000 from illegal transactions and interest. The company’s management did not admit guilt, but did not deny the SEC’s accusations.
“It has long been known that the Securities Act prohibits advertising securities without notifying investors or site visitors that a monetary reward has been received for the information,” said Kristina Littman, head of the SEC’s cybercrime division.
However, not all members of the Commission are happy with the outcome of the case. SEC Commissioners Hester Peirce and Elad Roisman criticized the agency’s decision. It has never clarified which specific digital assets previously advertised on Coinschedule are securities. Commissioners interpreted this omission as a reluctance by the regulator to provide clear guidance to help determine which tokens could fall into the securities category.
“The crypto market participants clearly lack clarity on how securities laws apply to digital asset trading. This can be seen in the number of requests received by the SEC. Firms are constantly reaching out to us for clarifications or requests to relax regulation, ”Pierce and Roisman said in a statement.
Recall that according to Cornerstone Research, over the past seven years, the SEC has fined cryptocurrency firms totaling $ 1.77 billion.
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