CFTC charges company over offering illegal leveraged transactions in ETH, LTC, BTC

U.S Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has charged Laino Group Limited’s PaxForex, a company based in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, for engaging in illegal retail commodity transactions in crypto, gold and silver and for failing to register with the CFTC as a futures commission merchant (FCM) according to a release published today. 

CFTC claimed that for over two years, PaxForex had offered unlawful retail commodity transactions in not only leading cryptocurrencies like ether, litecoin, bitcoin, but gold, and silver as well.

The release further stated law enforcements have charged PaxForex for extending credit or accepting money, securities, and property in the form of bitcoin and other assets in exchange for margin trades or contracts- all of which require the company to register with the CFTC as an FCM. However, the CFTC alleged that PaxForex did not acquire this license and has violated the Commodity Exchange Act. 

CFTC planned to return the alleged company’s ill-gotten gains to those affected and also applied other penalties such as a permanent registration and trading bans, among others. Division of Enforcement Director, James McDonald said in a statement: 

This action shows the CFTC’s continued commitment to ensuring that entities offering leveraged, retail transactions within our jurisdiction—including those involving digital assets—register with the CFTC.