Two American states have issued cease and desist orders this month, barring the crypto-lending platform Bitconnect from selling "securities" within their borders. Operators of Bitconnect have 30 days to respond to the demands.
The Texas State Securities Board was first, with an emergency cease and desist order (CDO) on Jan. 4. It had previously issued a similar CDO against USI-Tech in December.
Yesterday, the Secretary of State of North Carolina issued a similar order.
Each CDO charges Bitconnect with operating without a securities license and selling securities illegally. Notably, each order came a few days before Bitconnect launched a new ICO, BitconnectX, today. US taxpayers are barred from participating in the ICO.
The orders bar Bitconnect from selling any of its products or plans until it obtains a securities license from each state. It has the right to appeal the states' decisions within a 30-day period.
Given the secrecy about creators and operators of Bitconnect (and now BitconnectX), it will be interesting to see how the organizations responds to the state actions.
[DISCLOSURE: I invested $120 in Bitconnect's lending program in May. To date I have had $395 in returns, without any referral income. I am not a resident of either Texas or North Carolina, and as a US taxpayer, I did not participate in the BitconnectX ICO.]
The texts of the Texas and North Carolina CDOs are available at scribd.com at the links below.