•  
• Tweet
•  
•        Print
•  
•         Track Keywords
•  
• 

Laxman Pai, Opalesque Asia:

In a landmark judgement with far-reaching implications for the initial coin offering (ICO) market, the New York District Judge Raymond Dearie has ruled that U.S. securities laws are applicable for prosecuting crypto fraud allegations, Reuters reported.

In what appears to be the first U.S. court case to address the matter the Federal Judge clearly ruled that U.S. securities laws cover ICO token sales. This gives a boost to federal regulators who've pledged to crack down on fraud in the virtual coin market.

The ruling came in a case against a fraudulent ICO promoter Maksim Zaslavskiy, whom prosecutors are looking to bring up on fraud charges for defrauding investors of more than $300,000 from a scam ICO called REcoin.

The securities laws should be interpreted "flexibly," dismissing a motion from Zaslavskiy's lawyers to drop the charges on the grounds that the cryptocurrencies didn't fall under the Securities Exchange Act (SEC), said the ruling.

About $18.7 billion has been raised this year by so-called ICOs, according to data compiled by Coinschedule.com. Top SEC officials have warned firms offering ICOs that they could be subject to the same laws the agency uses to regulate stock offerings.

According to CNBC report, SEC Chairman Jay Clayton made it clear in June that the agency won't bend the rules for cryptocurrency when it comes to defining what is or what isn't a security. As of Tuesday, bitcoin and ether are ......................

To view our full article Click here