The U.S state of Colorado is notorious for not tolerating unregistered Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs). Colorado has generally taken a tough stance on all cryptocurrency related activities.
It’s safe to say that Colorado lawmakers are a little cautious and wary of cryptocurrencies.
Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA)
This principal department of the Colorado state government is responsible for consumer protection and professional licensing. DORA consists of nine divisions and well over 40 boards, advisory committees, and commissions. These divisions license and regulate well over 20,000 businesses within the state.
The Investigation into Unregistered ICOs
Gerald Rome, Colorado Securities Commissioner, recently signed orders for cryptocurrency organizations to show cause for promoting unwarranted ICOs within the state.
The Division of Securities of DORA whose members constitute Colorado’s ICO task force began investigating three cryptocurrencies firms for promoting unregistered ICOs within the state.
Firms Involved in Unregistered ICOs
Three firms are currently under investigation by the ICO task force, they include; Bionic Coin, Sybrelabs Ltd. (sometimes known as Crytoarb), and Global Pay Net (sometimes known as Gpn Token and Glpn Coin).
There are not the first DORA investigations of cryptocurrency firms. They previously investigated the following firms: Bitcoin Investments Ltd, Estatex, Bitconnect Ltd, and Magma Foundation.
Failure to Show Up for Scheduled Hearing
An order to show cause is a court order that requires recipients to justify their actions to the court of law. Out of all the firms that received the court order, none of them showed up for the hearing that took place on August 24th, 2018.
There have been questions as to whether another hearing would be scheduled. A spokesperson for DORA had the following to say,
“There likely won’t be another hearing. Given that no respondents showed, the Division presented the case to an administrative law judge, who must determine within 2 weeks whether the case made by the Division represents factual evidence. At that point yes, the Commissioner will then issue cease and desist orders.”
In Conclusion
According to Colorado lawmakers, the reason why they are taking such drastic measures is to protect individuals and companies from falling into dangerous hands.
Furthermore, Colorado set up an ICO task force in May 2018. This was done in conjunction with DORA. Moreover, the aim of this task force is to identify firms that might pose a threat to citizens of the state.
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