The Securities and Exchange Commission is continuing to clamp down on cryptocurrency projects, taking aim at Salt which raised $50 million in an ICO last year, according to WSJ.
The platform, which offers loans to those looking to use their cryptocurrency as collateral, is reported to have received a subpoena from the SEC in February.
It is looking into the ICO to assess whether it was a noncompliant securities offering, which means it should have been registered with the regulator.
Erik Voorhees is at the centre of the investigation, having reportedly played a ‘leadership role’ at Salt. Voorhees, who is now the CEO of Shapeshift, was also listed as a ‘director’ in an SEC filing five days before Salt’s token sale.
Best sticker at Consensus from https://t.co/40vIs2hpqx #bitcoin pic.twitter.com/jENxwB4CIS
— Erik Voorhees (@ErikVoorhees) May 31, 2017
Voorhees is no stranger to the SEC. He was investigated by the regulator in 2014 over ‘unregistered securities offerings’, subsequently being slapped with fines and disgorgement worth $50,000.
Former SEC division director Keith Higgins told the WSJ: “A provision in the 2014 settlement makes him a so-called ‘bad actor’ unable to rely on an SEC safe harbor for private, unregulated stock sales.”
Our response to that one… https://t.co/SJoU1uKoCM
— Erik Voorhees (@ErikVoorhees) November 15, 2018
This isn’t the first time the WSJ has set its sights on Voorhees. It has also reported that Shapeshift helped launder $9 million of illicit cash through the exchange. However, he was quick to refute claims in a blog post, claiming that WSJ had a fundamental misunderstanding of how blockchain transactions work.
Voorhees wrote: “Overall, the article contains factual inaccuracies, omits significant details about how ShapeShift operates, and reflects a fundamental misunderstanding of how blockchain transactions work. We have a strong record of complying with law-enforcement requests, providing valuable assistance in over 30 investigations in 13 different countries all over the world.”
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