
NY Attorney General Sues Crypto Exchange CoinEx
- Policy
- February 22, 2023
- No Comment
- 53
CoinEx was sued by the New York Attorney General’s office on Wednesday for being an unregistered securities broker and commodity broker-dealer.
Prior to offering services in New York, CoinEx did not register as an exchange with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), as a commodities broker-dealer with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission or with New York regulators. On its website, however, the company claimed to be an exchange and offered services similar to those of national securities exchanges.
Under New York’s Martin Act and General Business Law, CoinEx listed various tokens and services that qualify as securities and/or commodities.
The filing stated that the Tokens represent commodities falling within the definition of the Martin Act. This includes any foreign currency and other goods, articles or materials. CoinEx is a business engaged in the offering for sale of commodities to New York accounts primarily for investment purposes. Furthermore, the Tokens also meet the criteria of securities according to the Martin Act as they constitute investments of money in shared enterprises where profits are mainly derived from others’ efforts.
A subpoena was also refused by CoinEx, according to the filing. CoinEx is being asked to geofence New York by blocking local IP addresses, cease doing business in New York, pay NYAG fees, provide “full monetary restitution” and disgorgement from its business in New York.
Under state law, Flexa’s AMP, LBRY’s LBC, Terraform Labs’ LUNA and Rally’s RLY tokens are also securities and commodities, according to the filing. Through CoinEx’s website, Senior Detective Brian Metz said he purchased and sold these tokens in October using ether (ETH).
In the filing, CoinEx also claimed that it refused to comply with a subpoena. CoinEx must geofence New York by blocking local IP addresses, cease doing business in New York, pay NYAG fees, and provide “full monetary restitution” and disgorgement from its New York business.