New York attorney general Leticia James is suing another digital currency company. This time, the victim is Ku Coin, whom James said failed to register as a security and commodities broker-dealer and is falsely representing itself as a crypto exchange.
Ku Coin Is the Victim of a New York Lawsuit
On one hand, there are many shady crypto companies out there that have sought to take advantage of customers and those who do business with them. FTX is proof of this, and it’s a little scary to think that you could put your money into something and see it vanish in the twinkling of an eye.
At the same time, it’s a little hard to take James – and the state of New York – seriously when they’ve made it clear from the get-go that they hate crypto and will do anything to bring it down. New York, for example, is arguably the most anti-crypto state in the Union, and it’s been this way for many years. Things started out in 2015 when the Empire State introduced the BitLicense, which imposed heavy fees and documentation requirements on digital currency businesses.
Given how new the industry was at the time, many up-and-coming digital currency enterprises didn’t have the money required to apply for a license and do business in New York. Rather than pay, they simply chose not to offer their services within the region’s borders.
Not long ago, New York also imposed a crypto moratorium set to last at least two years. The idea is that all crypto mining firms that don’t operate on clean energy (and clean energy ONLY) cannot set up shop within the Empire State. There are many eco-conscious regulators in the region that now want the moratorium extended.
James has also gone after several digital currency companies in the past few weeks including Celsius, and one can’t help but wonder if these suits are just ways to garner revenue for an ailing state that has seen its economy crash under the weak leadership of governors like Andrew Cuomo and Kathy Hochul. In a statement, James said of her suit against Ku Coin:
One by one, my office is taking action against cryptocurrency companies that are brazenly disregarding our laws and putting investors at risk. Today’s action is the latest in our efforts to rein in shadowy cryptocurrency companies and bring order to the industry. All New Yorkers and all companies operating in New York [need] to follow our state’s laws and regulations. Ku Coin operated in New York without registration, and that’s why we are taking strong action to hold them accountable and protect investors.
Shape Up or Get Out
The lawsuit seeks to end all Ku Coin operations in New York until it agrees to play by the state’s rules.
The company first came about in 2017.
