Bitcoin Lender Celsius se alătură BlockFi pe listele țintă din Texas și New Jersey

BlockFi, compania de creditare a criptomonedei din New Jersey, are confruntat cu controlul de la autoritățile de reglementare a valorilor mobiliare de stat toată vara prin conturile sale de economii cripto cu dobândă mare. Coinbase, de asemenea, a fost a avertizat de către Comisia pentru Valori Mobiliare și Burse din SUA (SEC) că va fi dat în judecată dacă își lansează programul de împrumut cu randament ridicat.

Acum Celsius, un concurent BlockFi, de asemenea, cu sediul în New Jersey, se simte și de la autoritățile de reglementare.

Biroul de Valori Mobiliare din New Jersey astăzi depusă un ordin de încetare și renunțare împotriva companiei de a înceta să mai ofere conturile sale cu dobândă mare clienților din New Jersey până la sfârșitul lunii octombrie. Tot astăzi, Texas State Securities Board (TSSB) ordonat compania să se prezinte pentru o audiere administrativă pe 14 februarie. TSSB amenință că va emite propria încetare și renunțare împotriva firmei pentru a nu mai servi clienții în statul Lone Star. Ordinul mai declară că amenzile și restituirea clienților texani sunt posibile remedii.

At issue are Celsius’ crypto interest accounts. Clients sign up for the platform and deposit cryptocurrencies they own with Celsius, which then loans them out; in return, clients receive interest rates far higher than those available on traditional bank savings accounts. The network advertises returns of up to 17%, though the rates are updated weekly and vary by asset. Currently, stablecoins precum Tether și USDC aduce 8.88%, în timp ce Ethereum și Bitcoin aduna dobândă în valoare de aproximativ 5 până la 6% pe an.

Additionally, Texas and New Jersey note that Celsius’ API partner program furthers the reach of such accounts because, in the TSSB’s words, “Celsius API Partners can then offer and sell the unregistered Celsius Earn Interest-Bearing Accounts to their clients.” 

None of this, say Texas and New Jersey regulators, is sanctioned by either state because Celsius has not registered with the agencies or the SEC to sell securities, which are tradable investment products. Many, including the SEC and some lawyers specializing in digital assets, view “yield” products as securities because they function as unsecured bonds, in which a borrower agrees to pay someone back without providing collateral.

The same issue has tangled up BlockFi, which received a cease and desist order from the New Jersey attorney general’s office on July 20. That was followed by cease and desist orders from Texas, Vermont, and Kentucky, as well as a show cause order from Alabama. As a result, BlockFi’s market coverage is shrinking; it no longer offers its BlockFi Interest Accounts to Texas residents and must stop serving New Jersey residents by September 30. 

Coinbase, the U.S.’s only publicly traded cryptocurrency exchange, has long been working on a product to siphon away users from BlockFi and Celsius, but now has even more cause to rethink its approach. Its Lend program, which has yet to launch, would have given stablecoin holders 4% interest on their savings, and it had planned to expand the program to other cryptocurrencies over time. The exchange, however, says the SEC deemed it a security and threatened to take Coinbase to court—though the agency wouldn’t cite its reasoning.

According to the TSSB, it’s already contacted Celsius about this issue. According to the board, it sent a letter around May 14 notifying it that it may be out of compliance with the Texas Securities Act. “Nevertheless,” it notes, “Respondents have continued to offer the Celsius Earn Interest-Bearing Accounts to Texans in violation of Sections 7 and 12 of the Securities Act.” Both sections address securities registration requirements.

Într-o declarație către decriptaţi, a Celsius spokesperson said: “We are disappointed these actions have been filed and wholeheartedly disagree with the allegations being made that Celsius has not complied with the law. We always have, and will continue to, work with regulators in the US and globally to operate in full compliance with the law. Given our commitment to regulatory adherence, we look forward to addressing this matter quickly. As of now, there are no changes in our services to any of our clients. We will keep our community updated with any development.”

Editor’s note: This article has been updated with a comment from Celsius.

Sursa: https://decrypt.co/81198/bitcoin-lender-celsius-joins-blockfi-texas-new-jersey-target-lists