The New Jersey Bureau of Securities has ordered three website operators to stop luring romance-seeking victims into their fraudulent cryptocurrency investment schemes. The three firms hit with the cease and desist orders were Meta Capitals Limited, Cresttrademining Limited and Forex Market Trade, according to a Feb. 3 press release from New Jersey’s Attorney General Matthew Platkin. All three firms claimed to be cryptocurrency trading platforms, where they would allegedly entice victims into copying the trades of their “expert traders” so that they can make big returns. But to get them into the scheme, these companies often resort to romance seekers …

The New Jersey Bureau of Securities has issued a cease and desist order against Voyager Digital for selling unregistered securities through its Voyager Earn program. Voyager Digital (VGX) is a centralized, crypto-based staking, trading, and lending platform. The order claims that each of the crypto staking and lending accounts issued through the program since 2019 are unregistered securities because of their promise of interest rates as high as 12%. The Bureau cites as evidence for the claim messages on Voyager’s homepage encouraging users to “grow your portfolio” and “journey to the new frontier of investing.” New Jersey claims that about …

The Texas State Securities Board has filed for a hearing with the potential to impose a cease and desist order against crypto lending firm Celsius Network for not offering securities licensed at the state or federal level, while the New Jersey Bureau of Securities has ordered the platform to stop offering and selling interest-earning cryptocurrency products. According to a Sept. 17 filing, the Texas regulator will be holding a hearing related to allegations that Celsius Network is offering and selling securities in Texas that are not registered or permitted in addition to not registering as a dealer under the state’s …

A county in the state of New Jersey has announced the liquidation of cryptocurrency assets seized in 2018. On Monday, the prosecutor’s office in Monmouth County announced that the confiscated crypto —initially valued at $57,000 at the time it was seized — was liquidated on Coinbase for $198,237 at a quote “profit” of $141,000. Authorities captured the cryptocurrency during a 2018 drug bust in Long Branch. The assets were frozen on a United States-based crypto exchange once officials determined them as profits secured from illegal drug sales. Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher Gramiccioni said that the county is the first state-level …

The New Jersey Senate is set to consider a new bill that proposes the creation of a new, mandatory licensing framework for all cryptocurrency firms operating in the state. Introduced on Nov. 5, the new Senate bill, or "Digital Asset and Blockchain Technology Act," has been sponsored by the Democratic Party senator for New Jersey's 35th Legislative District, Nellie Pou. S3132 is now pending a referral to the Senate Commerce Committee. The Senate bill follows the introduction of the same legislation (to New Jersey's General Assembly earlier this year, and the latter's subsequent referral to the Assembly Appropriations Committee. The …

New Jersey District Judge, Freda Wolfson, granted seven motions of dismissal that ended a lawsuit targeting crypto mining firm, Riot Blockchain, on April 30. The plaintiffs claimed that Riot had made false and misleading statements to its shareholders concerning its investments in crypto assets and blockchain technologies. The lawsuit accused Riot of issuing misleading materials concerning shareholders who were selling their shares in the company, alleging that “related-party transactions” had not been adequately disclosed by Riot. Riot Blockchain escapes class-action suit Judge Wolfson found that the plaintiffs provided insufficient evidence to demonstrate that Riot’s press releases and public statements contained …

New Jersey federal prosecutor Craig Carpenito is fighting the request of two alleged crypto scammers to be released from a county jail amid the coronavirus pandemic. According to court documents filed with the United States Department of Justice on March 24, Carpenito asserted that the recently enacted Bail Reform only preferences pretrial release of a defendant when their appearance at trial could be reasonably assured. Carpenito noted that COVID-19 has sparked a “national conversation” regarding whether pretrial detainees accused of nonviolent crimes should be released, in order to reduce the risk of coronavirus rapidly spreading in U.S. jails. However, he …

The Bureau of Securities in New Jersey has issued two emergency orders to the companies Zoptax and Unocall to end their initial coin offerings (ICOs). The Bureau alleges that the token offerings qualify as fraudulent unregistered securities offerings. The Office of the Attorney General in New Jersey announced the Bureau's orders in a news release on Aug. 7. In the case of Zoptax, the report states that the company is offering the cryptocurrency Zoptax Coins through a website-conducted ICO. The website apparently states that the ICO has a soft cap of $500,000, as well as a hard cap goal of …

William Green, a 46-year-old New Jersey resident, was indicted by a federal grand jury on account of allegedly running an unlicensed money transmission service. The United States Department of Justice (DoJ) announced the indictment in a press release on July 24. According to the DoJ, the indictment filings and court statements indicate that Green operated a fiat-to-Bitcoin (BTC) conversion service through the website Destination Bitcoin. As such, Green reportedly would receive money from his customers in order to convert their cash to BTC. The findings further indicated that Green had not registered with the Secretary of the United States Treasury …

A scammer has been sentenced to 86 months in prison for running a cryptocurrency-related scheme, the United States Department of Justice (DoJ) reports on July 1 In addition to the 86-month prison sentence, United States District Judge Sandra J. Feuerstein ordered 44-year old New Jersey resident Blake Kantor to pay a total restitution of $806,405 distributed to the victims who invested in his scam, as well as forfeiture of $1.5 million, and forfeiture of $153,000 of stolen proceeds. The scam itself was run through the company Blue Bit Banc (BBB) which offered binary options — an all or nothing form …