SEC Charged BitConnect Promoters For $2 Billion Token Sale: Report

The SEC charged BitConnect promoters that promoted the platform as an unregistered digital securities offering as we can see more in our latest crypto news today.

The US SEC charged BitConnect promoters who allegedly promoted the platform as a crypto investment program that showed signs of a Ponzi scheme. The SEC contends that BitConnect was a global unregistered digital asset equities offering and the agency said that the promoters managed to make up to $2 billion from retail investors by using the five promoters. Lara Shalov Mehraban who is an Associate Regional Director of the SEC New York Regional Office said:

“We allege that these defendants unlawfully sold unregistered digital asset securities by actively promoting the BitConnect lending program to retail investors. We will seek to hold accountable those who illegally profit by capitalizing on the public’s interest in digital assets.”

Trevon Brown, Ryan Maasen, Craig Grant, and Michael Noble are the five promoters that the SEC launched charges. Another defendant Joshua Jeppesen who allegedly served as a liaison between BitConenct and the promoters represented BitConnect at conferences and promotional events and was also named by the SEC. BitConnect was considered a Ponzi scheme when it launched in 2017 and it used a pyramid with multiple levels to explain how it worked and rewarded the investors based on the number of people that they got into the program. Its own token, BCC was one of the 20 most valuable coins at the time and had a market cap of $2.6 billion.

BitConenct promised an average daily return of one percent with the ability to turn $1000 into $36,000 in one year. It collapsed in 2018 when the regulators caught onto the project and then forced the platform to close. The investors got their coins but by the point, the coin already crashed from its ATH to less than $1.

As reported, The Australian Securities and Investment Commission banned the Bitconnect Australia director of promotions, John Louis Anthony Bigatton as he was working for the notorious cryptocurrency scam. He is now banned from working in the financial sector. Last year, the corporate regulator of the country cracked down on the alleged bitConnect promoter Bigatton. At that time, the court decided to freeze his accounts and assets and also placed him under a travel ban due to the ASIC’s requests.