Not even a week after blockchain-friendly Jared Polis won the race for governor of Colorado, Gerald Rome – the Colorado Securities Commissioner – has issued cease and desist orders to four companies that are in the midst of an ICO. The Colorado Division of Securities (CDS) has already cracked down on 12 ICOs this year, and it’s showing no signs of slowing down. Polis and his new state are already hard at work cleaning up the blockchain and crypto space ready to prime it for an innovation boom.
Hunting Down ICO Scams
Scammers and fraudulent traders love the ICO world, due to its wild west nature and peoples’ longing to get rich quick. A lot of investors look out for a few buzzwords and drop their cryptos, never to see them again. The CDS has taken aim at these types of ICOs and is slowly removing them from the state. This time around, it’s issued cease and desist orders to Bitcoin Investments (also known as DB Capital), PinkDate, Prisma, and Clear Shop Vision.
DB Capital looked the most legitimate on the outside, but once you dig a little deeper it soon becomes clear that it’s a scam. The company’s website promises investors a minimum 1% return on investments every day – a big no-no when it comes to sticking within the law. Shop Vision is currently on its third ICO and is asking investors to send Ethereum directly to its wallet rather than a crypto exchange – another huge red flag that you should look out for when investing in ICOs.
ICO Scams are Highly Profitable
Unfortunately, ICO scams are highly profitable and this is why they are operated by con artists the world over. They can make grandiose promises with a basic white paper – the spelling and grammar doesn’t even need to be perfect – and people will drop their cryptos.
The Bahamas is working hard to stamp out ICO scams by creating new regulations that an ICO must adhere to, similarly to France’s new UCITS style ICO regulations. Under these new regulations, ICOs will be required by law to provide a specific set of documents that only a legitimate company would have due to their complexity.
Con Artists Waiting on Every Corner
An American crypto trader has been issued a $1.1 million fine and a 15-month prison sentence for stealing from his employer, as well as “losing” client funds on a bad crypto bet. There are plenty of horror stories out there about these types of scammers taking people to the cleaners, so be safe out there. If something sounds too good to be true, there is a good chance it is – trade cryptos yourself and only buy into reputable ICOs.
It’s great to see Jared Polis and his new state taking actions to clean up the State’s blockchain and crypto scene. By ridding the State of all the filth and crypto scams, it’s preparing a safe and secure platform to build its future in the industry. All eyes are on Colorado!
