Kevin Helms
A student of Austrian economics, Kevin found Bitcoin in 2011 and has been an evangelist ever since. His interests lie in Bitcoin security, open source systems, network effects and the intersection of economics and cryptography.
SEC Takes Action Against Crypto Trading Platform Beaxy And Its Executives – Regulation Bitcoin News
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has brought charges against the crypto trading platform Beaxy and its executives. In addition, the regulator alleged that the cryptocurrency exchange’s founder raised $8 million in an unregistered crypto token offering and “misappropriated at least $900,000 for personal use, including gambling.”
SEC Charges Crypto Exchange Platform Beaxy
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced on Wednesday that it has filed charges against trading platform Beaxy, its founder and its executives. SEC Chairman Gary Gensler commented:
We allege that Beaxy and its affiliates performed the functions of an exchange, broker, clearing agency and dealer without registering with the Commission and complying with clear, time-tested rules governing these activities.
Besides alleging that Beaxy and its executives failed to “register as a national stock exchange, broker and clearing agency,” the securities watchdog said it has “charged the founder of the platform, Artak Hamazaspyan, and a company he controlled, Beaxy Digital Ltd., with to raise $8 million in an unregistered offering of the Beaxy token (BXY).”
The SEC “alleged that Hamazaspyan signed over at least $900,000 for personal use, including gambling.” The regulator “also charged market makers operating on the Beaxy platform as unregistered dealers.”
In its complaint, the SEC alleged that Nicholas Murphy and Randolph Bay Abbot have operated the Beaxy platform since October 2019 through the management of Windy Inc. The SEC noted that the pair convinced Hamazaspyan to back out of the BXY offering.
Beaxy shuts down
Following the SEC enforcement, Beaxy announced on its website: “Unfortunately, we are announcing the immediate suspension of services on Beaxy Exchange. Due to the uncertain regulatory environment surrounding our business, we have made the difficult decision to cease operations.”
While emphasizing, “We made a direct commitment to cooperation with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for over two years, continuously providing information, data and interviews to assist regulators in any way we could,” the company emphasized:
Unfortunately, despite our best efforts, it has become clear that the regulatory environment is simply too uncertain to continue operations.
What do you think about the SEC taking action against this crypto exchange, its founder and its executives? Let us know in the comments section below.
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