Late last week, the SEC announced that it has settled charges
with Bitqyck Inc. and its founders, Bruce Bise and Sam Mendez,
alleging that they defrauded investors in the securities offerings
of two cryptocurrency tokens, and had operated an unregistered
exchange. According to the SEC, the defendants lied to investors
and fraudulently raised $13 million through unregistered token
sales. Without admitting or denying the allegations, Bitqyck
consented to an order requiring it pay back investor money, with
interest, and a civil penalty of nearly $8.4 million. Bise
agreed to pay disgorgement, interest and penalties of $890
thousand; Mendez agreed to $850 thousand.
David Murray, a vice president at the Financial Integrity
Network and former U.S. Treasury Department director, recently
provided expert testimony to a U.S. Senate subcommittee about how
cryptocurrencies are facilitating human trafficking. Murray
advocated for regulating cryptocurrency mining under the
