CFTC charges 20 ‘crypto companies’ over false registration claims

U.S government agency, CFTC or the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, today charged 20 entities, among which some were crypto traders and exchanges,  for making false claims of having CFTC registration and National Futures Association (NFA) membership. These are mandatory registrations that allow exchanges to offer services related to trading in digital assets, derivatives, and forex in the U.S. 

Out of the 20 entities, 10 firms allegedly claimed on their websites that they were registered with the CFTC. Per the report, these so-called exchanges had never been registered with the CFTC or the NFA in any capacity.  

The report named the companies involved which include Bitfx24option.com – which claimed to trade and exchange Bitcoin, Fidelityfxtrade.com – crypto forex and investment platform, and Granttradefx.com.

Other entities mentioned in the report were:  iMarketsserviceFX.com, Toptradecapitalfx.com, Westtechtrade.com, Westintrade.com, Yobcryptotrade24.com, Zenithoptionstrade.net, and Zenithtradermarkets.com. Most of these companies also claimed to be located in Walsall, in the UK.

Division of Enforcement Director James McDonald said: 

Today’s actions are the latest examples of the CFTC’s efforts to aggressively root out fraud and bad actors involved in our markets. As these actions show, the CFTC will act decisively to prevent false claims of CFTC or NFA registration.

The CFTC urged customers to verify a company’s registration with the Commission before committing funds. If unregistered, people should be wary of providing funds to that entity. A company’s registration status can be found using the National Futures Association database (NFA BASIC).