Texas State Securities Board (TSSB) has issued emergency cease and desist orders against two foreign-based cryptocurrency mining companies, Australian AWS Mining, and Canadian EXY Crypto, for working without registration in the state and engaging “in frauds.” Both companies used social media as the main channel to promote their activities among Texans with misleading information, TSBB said on Tuesday.
AWS Mining, which is based in Sydney, offered crypto mining power contracts and guaranteed “200% profit, TSBB explained. The company used various social media to advertise its investment offerings to Texans. Moreover, it has a program for hiring sales agents without having the required registration. AWS Mining also owns MyCoinDeal, a wallet that investors were supposed to utilize if they wanted to participate in the project.
The AWS Mining website is still available.
“AWS MINING is headquartered in Sydney, Australia, with mining farms across China, Paraguay and Russia. Our goal is to make mining accessible to all users regardless of age, location, investment, technical knowledge or experience,” the company explains on its website.
“AWS MINING is able to process instant payments and withdrawals as well as offering appropriate support throughout the entire mining process.”
On Tuesday, TSSB also ordered EXY Crypto, aka EXECRRYPTO, to stop working within Texas’ borders. The Quebec-based firm mainly used professional network LinkedIn to promote its investment offering in the mining of five virtual coins: Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), XRP (XRP), Litecoin (LTC), and Dash (Dash). EXY Crypto has four types of investment contracts: Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum Plans with returns ranging from 10% to 25% on a weekly basis. Similarly, to AWS Mining the Canadian firm also targeted sales agents from Texas.
EXY Crypto’s website is still working, but its social accounts icons as well as links to Google Play and AppStore are static and not redirecting to Twitter and Facebook profiles or to the Android and the iOS shops.
TSSB is one of the most active securities regulators on the state level in the US regarding alleged cryptocurrency Ponzi schemes.
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