SEC Files Complaint Against Trader Involving Bitcoin Conversion Scheme

On October 30, 2017, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") filed a complaint in federal court against a day trader for allegedly committing fraud and market manipulation during which the trader utilized a digital currency exchange in a supposed attempt to cover his tracks. The SEC claims that defendant's associate obtained unauthorized access to other people's brokerage accounts and caused them to enter unauthorized trade orders at artificial prices.  Many of these orders then executed, directly or indirectly, against the defendant's orders.  The defendant then allegedly transferred a share of the profits to his associate.  Notably, the defendant transferred the proceeds, which were denominated in U.S. dollars, to a digital currency company that converted the dollars to bitcoin and transmitted them to the defendant's associate.