SEC investigation into BitConnect confirmed
Top BitConnect investor Craig Grant uploaded a YouTube video a few hours ago, in which he confirms an SEC investigation into the company is underway.
[1:26] Trevon (James) … says that the SEC subpoenaed him like a month ago for all his bitcoin addresses. He sent them everything.
Then they called him like a week ago to say come talk to them in September.
He was supposed to talk to them in August but they postponed it till September.
Other than the occasional shilling of the Steem cryptocurrency, James has been maintaining a relatively low profile on YouTube.
I’m painfully aware Craig Grant is not a lawyer, so I can’t confirm the accuracy of the legal terms he’s used.
Of note is that the SEC wouldn’t be able to issue a subpoena unless they’ve filed a complaint. There is the possibility of pre-litigation discovery but then we’re pushing the boundaries of my own legal knowledge.
At the time of publication nothing is showing up on Pacer, meaning if the SEC has filed a lawsuit against BitConnect and top investors, it’s still under seal.
Personally I think the SEC are still investigating the case and collective evidence.
An actual lawsuit (federal complaint) will likely be filed later this year or in the first half of 2019 (note this is a prediction on my part based on what is currently known).
Update 3rd December 2018 – As at the time of this update Craig Grant has removed the video this article is based on from his YouTube channel. /end update
In addition to an SEC investigation into BitConnect, an FBI investigation into the company was confirmed back in March.
The current status of the FBI’s BitConnect investigation is unknown.
Update 28th August 2018 – In a YouTube video dated August 27th, Trevon James has confirmed he will appear before the SEC on September 14th.
@Oz
Just FYI: while BitConnect was CLEARLY a ridiculous ponzi scam since day one, and Treyvon an obvious ponzi pimp, “Steem” (Steemit) is actually pretty darn cool in that it is permissionless and participatory crypto rewards “points” system which awards content providers and is actually fungible for BTC (etc) on a totally free and open market.
(You might even consider “mirroring” BMLM there, as it’s a rather innovative platform we’ve never seen prior).
As far as I know, there is no way to “recruit,” and there are certainly no binary rewards available within the Steemit eco-system, whatsoever. It simply offers an interesting new model in social media communication based on popularity of content (ie., NOT MLM or anything even close to it at all)
Furthermore, as far as I’m aware (although I admit a possibility of being slightly mistaken – ), there are no beneficiaries to simple participation (although I’d have to revisit the model, as to how block confirmations are rewarded, whether Proof-of-Stake, Proof-of-Work, or some variety thereof …or whether there are “master nodes,” etc).
Anyway, I digress. It’s expected to see the SEC finally scrutinizing the space (in some ways), as this is inevitable, ultimately, and was spurned by the numerous bad players in both the crypto AND MLM space.
I hope the most egregious criminals are finally put in check and brought to justice. No one should expect anything different, considering how much crime has recently run rampant in the often fraudulent name of “cryptocurrency.”
I just wish we were able to “self-police” more effectively …but obviously the community failed, this far :/
@Tim
I’m aware Steem isn’t an MLM opportunity.
As for their content platforms, I vaguely recall Trevon James complaining about the owner(s) booting him off due to bad BitConnect publicity earlier this year.
He was allowed to return, but so much for “permissionless”.
James was also briefly shilling vote bots and what not, suggesting the platforms can be rigged by larger investors. And I’ve since seen a few “Steem Monster Packs” videos.
Don’t really care what that’s about but if it’s anything like the video game equivalent, it’s straight up illegal gambling.
Meanwhile mirroring content on the internet = #RIP SEO.
And as a content creator for nearly a decade, I’ve long-since learnt unless you have complete control over your platform it can be gone in the blink of an eye.
A popularity driven social media platform with a financial benefit isn’t unlike the MLM equivalent (think Empower Network and blogging or the countless “we’ll pay you!” Facebook clones).
In the end all you wind up is an echo-chamber with only those with a vested financial interest contributing and/or accessing the content.
There’s already a decentralized content platform which is permissionless – the rest of the internet.
Speaking of Trevon James, as we were, check this out:
NOLINK:dlive.io/video/trevonjb/0d322cd0-80b8-11e8-bbe8-435b8d3c86e8
I certainly appreciate the popcorn, but James’ level of ignorance in relation to wire and securities fraud is unbelievable.
I suppose at least they’ll have a new house to clawback when the time comes…
Another player who gets his legal advice from watching re runs of Law and Order.
So apparently the SEC is “illiterate” when it comes to cryptocurrency.
“Give him enough rope and he’ll hang himself” comes to mind.
Why be adversarial when you can just play dumb and get exactly what you need.
Was Bitconnect a fraud – yep.
Did James promote it – yep
Did James do it in public – yep.
Is there evidence he promoted it – yep
Was BitConnect cryptocurrency – nope
End of.
Article updated with date Trevon James will appear before the SEC.