SEC Filing for 2019 Highlights Crypto-Related Cases

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission revealed that it has restricted securities trading of 271 providers and some digital assets in 2019. The SEC published its annual filing for 2019 on the 6th of November, noting that the amount of restrictions this year is just a little less than that of 2018 which was at 280.

Multiple Cases of Illicit Activities
The filing cites a case of a Nevada firm that falsely declared that it was in partnership with SEC-certified keeper for its cryptocurrency transactions and that it offered SEC-recognized tokens.

In another case, the SEC temporarily barred trading activities in Bitcoin Generation, a cryptocurrency exchange, based on suspicions over the precision and sufficiency of the information provided by the firm.

The SEC further procured 31 court orders to freeze assets over different wrongdoings in 2019, an increase from 26 last year. According to the filing, the agency fought against some digital asset providers for fraudulent acts and infringement of the rules proffered by the agency.

Still, in 2019, the agency filed its first charges for the illicit advertisement of cryptocurrency assets against two renowned celebrities; music creator DJ Khaled and world-class boxer Floyd Mayweather. However, the fining details were undisclosed.

The agency carried out a similar prosecution on an ICO grading website, ICO Rating, for not announcing that projects had provided funding for coverage. The agency finalized the matter by fining the website $269 million for infringing anti-touting requirements.

The SEC announced that they amassed more than $4 billion in penalties and fines in 2019 on 862 actions, declaring that close to $1.2 billion was reimbursed to affected investors.

The SEC Vs Veritaseum
According to a news article, the Chief Executive Officer of Veritaseum LLC and Veritaseum Inc., Reggie Middleton, was requested to pay $8.4 million in disgorgement by a court ruling. The reimbursement represents a portion of illicitly accrued profits and prejudgment interest of $500,000.

The case against Veritaseum was filed in August by the SEC claiming that the establishments carried out fraudulent and unlisted ICO from 2017 through 2018.