The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit recently issued an opinion in Pino v. Cardone Capital, LLC that followed the Eleventh Circuit ruling in Wildes v. BitConnect (see our March, 2022 post on that case here:
Creators of fraudulent crypto assets beware. A recent court decision supported investors, creators and marketers of legitimate crypto assets, and the integrity of the crypto asset market as a whole.
While the creator of BitConnect remains at large and is facing his own indictment for his role in the scheme that allegedly defrauded investors of $2.4 Billion, this case focuses on the promoters and marketers of a commodity known as BitConnect Coin.
Background
The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) adopted the final rules of Regulation Crowdfunding (the “Regulation”) on October 30, 2015. While the final rules have been adopted, they do not become effective until May 16, 2016. The Regulation is meant