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SEC Freezes Crypto Assets of $600 Million Initial Coin Offering

SEC Seeks to Freeze Crypto Assets of $600 Million Coin Offering

SEC Freezes Crypto Assets of $600 Million Initial Coin Offering
A monitor displays the status of cryptocurrency mining at a mining facility in Incheon. (Photographer: SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg)

(Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission obtained a court order freezing the assets of a Texas-based initial coin offering that claimed to have raised more than $600 million.

The order filed in federal court in Dallas halts AriseBank from raising any additional cash from investors, according to a statement from SEC Tuesday. The agency alleges Jared Rice, 29, illegally raised funds from individual investors beginning in November without registering with regulators, according to the complaint. Also accused is co-founder Stanley Ford, 45, who lives in Dubai.

The agency froze crypto assets including Bitcoin, dogecoin and litecoin among others and appointed a receiver to return investor cash.

“This is the first time the commission has sought the appointment of a receiver in connection with an ICO fraud,” said Steve Peikin, co-head of SEC enforcement said in a statement. “We will use all of our tools and remedies to protect investors from those who engage in fraudulent conduct in the emerging digital securities marketplace.”

The asset freeze is the biggest action yet for the agency trying to police a red-hot market that’s raised billions from a range of investors. The regulator has been sounding the alarm about the offerings, which are most likely securities that must be registered to comply with U.S. securities laws.

Rice, who is on probation for felony theft and tampering with government records, made other misleading statements, including claims that his company bought an FDIC-insured bank and partnered with Visa, according to the complaint. The SEC says AriseBank used celebrities to tout its fraudulent offering. Evander Holyfield, former World Heavyweight boxing champion, endorsed the AriseBank earlier this month.

AriseBank claims to be one of the largest cryptocurrency platforms ever built, according to the complaint.

Contact information for Rice and Ford wasn’t immediately available.

The case is SEC v. AriseBank, 18-cv-00186, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Texas (Dallas).

To contact the reporter on this story: Matt Robinson in New York at mrobinson55@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jesse Westbrook at jwestbrook1@bloomberg.net, Paul Cox, Joe Schneider

©2018 Bloomberg L.P.