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The New Jersey Bureau of Securities has ordered three cryptocurrency-related companies to stop offering unregistered securities in the state.
The cease-and-desist orders against Bullcoin, Trident Crypto Index Fund and Springcryptoinvest are part of a wider sweep being undertaken by 40 state and provincial securities regulators in the U.S. and Canada.
The sweep, dubbed “Crypto-Crackdown,” is being coordinated by the North American Securities Administrators Association, or NASAA, and has resulted in nearly 70 investigations, according to the association’s website.
“New Jersey’s Bureau of Securities has been a national leader in proactively protecting investors against the significant threat of fraudulent activity involving initial coin offerings and cryptocurrency-related investment products,” said New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal in a news release Monday.
“Today the bureau joins securities regulators across the nation and beyond in sending a message that we will vigilantly safeguard our financial industry from schemes and scams involving cryptocurrencies,” he said.
One of the companies involved, Springcryptoinvest, claims to be a U.K. registered company but regulated by “the USA international regulatory authorities,” though it doesn’t disclose which authorities.
Through its website, Springcryptoinvest offers three investment packages, one which offers a daily profit of 20% with a minimum $10,000 investment.
MarketWatch called the U.K. number on www.spring-cryptoinvest.com, which was answered by a recording for a business travel company. After reaching an operator, two people said they didn’t know of any connection between Springcryptoinvest and the travel firm. However, an online help chat representative for Springcryptoinvest said the travel firm served as the customer service department for the company, but terminated the chat when asked about the cease-and-desist order.
Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Jay Clayton applauded the work of regulators.
“The enforcement actions being announced by NASAA should be a strong warning to would-be fraudsters in this space that many sets of eyes are watching, and that regulators are coordinating on an international level to take strong actions to deter and stop fraud,” Clayton said in a statement.
Each of the New Jersey companies has three days to file a written action to lift the cease-and-desist order.