The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced settled charges against Seattle-based company Coinme Inc., its subsidiary Up, Global SEZC, and the Chief Executive Officer of both entities, Neil Bergquist, for conducting unregistered offers and sales of securities in the form of a crypto asset called “UpToken,” and against Bergquist and Up Global for making false and misleading statements concerning the demand for UpToken and the amount raised in the offering.
According to the order, from October 16, 2017 to December 15, 2017, Coinme, Up Global, and Bergquist engaged in unregistered offers and sales of crypto asset securities during which, among other things, they marketed the financial benefit that UpToken investors would reap from Coinme purchasing UpToken in the secondary market after the ICO. The order also finds that, unbeknownst to UpToken investors, Bergquist and Up Global took steps before and throughout the ICO to obtain an UpToken supply that would substantially reduce Coinme’s need to purchase UpToken after the ICO, and also knowingly or recklessly publicly inflated amounts raised in the ICO.
Source: SEC.gov | SEC Charges CEO and Subsidiary of Seattle-Based Company with Securities Fraud
