- Steve Bannon’s cryptocurrency GDollars is allegedly being investigated by the SEC
- The cryptocurrency was sold in May and is connected to Bannon’s GTV Media group project
- GTV Media did not obtain a license to sell the cryptocurrency to U.S. investors
GDollars, a cryptocurrency backed by former advisor to the Trump administration Steve Bannon, is allegedly being investigated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Forensic News journalist Scott Stedman broke the news through his Twitter feed on Saturday, citing an anonymous source who stated that Bannon and his associate never obtained a license to issue the digital currency, which is said to have raised millions of dollars this year.
SCOOP: Feds are investigating cryptocurrency offering by Steve Bannon and Guo Wengui’s company GTV Media. The company began selling an online currency called “GDollars” in May and, according to my sources, raised millions. FEC never issued them a licence to sell digital currency.
— Scott Stedman (@ScottMStedman) August 29, 2020
GTV Media Under the Microscope
GDollars is a cryptocurrency tied to GTV Media, a company formed earlier this year by Bannon and Guo Wengui, a friend and business associate of Bannon’s. Wengui has been on the run from Chinese authorities since 2014 having been accused of a litany of crimes ranging from bribery to sexual assault, and he is an outspoken critic of the Chinese regime in much the same way that Bannon is about America.
Wengui and Bannon formed theGTV Media group with the intention of it being “the only uncensored and independent bridge between China and the Western world”. However, the SEC and the FBI are now looking into the deal after various banks and payment processors pulled their services and froze accounts when the links to Wengui were known.
These investigations were leaked two weeks ago through the Wall Street Journal, and it seems that their interest has included the GDollars project that came after GTV Media launched.
GDollars Under the Radar
Not a huge amount is known about GDollars except that Bannon and Wengui began selling them in May, allowing unrestricted pre-ordering of the tokens up to the value of $999,999. In the same way as JPMorgan and Wells Fargo froze the accounts tied to GTV Media’s fundraising company, Stripe stopped accepting payments for GDollars due to “legal concerns” according to Stedman’s source.
Despite the clear association, Stedman says that the GDollar cryptocurrency is being treated differently than the GTV Media case:
The crypto offering was a *different* source of revenue for GTV Media and a different line of inquiry for the Feds, involving different potential crimes.
— Scott Stedman (@ScottMStedman) August 29, 2020
As the Telegram case proved, when U.S. authorities don’t like something they will use every inch of their power and influence to shut it down. With both trade wars and tech wars going on with China right now, GTV Media and GDollars will therefore face a tough time remaining a going concern once the FBI and SEC have got their claws in.
