Securities Division

Securities News

Arizona Joins $1.5 Million Multistate Securities Settlement Against Crypto Platform, TradeStation

Apr 11, 2024, 13:29 by Nicole Garcia

Phoenix, Ariz.— The Arizona Corporation Commission entered into a settlement with TradeStation Crypto, Inc. (TradeStation) to resolve Arizona’s securities investigation into the company’s crypto interest-earning program.

TradeStation has already paid back the Arizona investors but is still ordered to pay a $29,411 administrative penalty to the state of Arizona for selling the unregistered investment program.

“Today’s agreement reflects the ongoing efforts by state securities regulators to protect investors,” said Chairman Jim O’Connor. “We are pleased to know that the investors received their money back.”

TradeStation, a Florida corporation formed in 2018, provides crypto-asset-related financial services to retail and institutional customers in the United States, including investing and trading services. From August 2020 to June 2022, TradeStation offered a crypto interest-earning program to Arizona investors. Under this program, investors passively earned interest on crypto assets by loaning them to TradeStation. TradeStation maintained total discretion over the revenue-generating activities utilized to earn returns for investors. The company offered and promoted their crypto interest-earning program in Arizona and the United States at large via its website and various platforms.

The $1.5 million multistate settlement was negotiated by a North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) task force. NASAA is an association of United States and Canadian securities regulators. The task force determined that during the offering period, TradeStation engaged in the unregistered offer and sale of securities via its crypto interest-earning program.

The Arizona Corporation Commission reminds investors to ask and check before you invest.  If you choose to invest in a cryptocurrency or related product, you can call one of our investigators on duty at 602-542-0662 or e-mail us at SecuritiesDiv@azcc.gov.  Resources are also available at https://www.azcc.gov/azinvestor.

Members of the media who are interested in speaking with an ACC Securities Division Enforcement Attorney on this case or on the topic of cryptocurrency scam awareness can contact ngarcia@azcc.gov to set up an interview.

All documents relating to this case can be found in the online docket at https://edocket.azcc.gov and entering docket number S-21295A-24-0050

Contact the Securities Division

Address:

1300 W. Washington St,
Phoenix, AZ 85007

Phone:

Main:
(602) 542-4242

Toll-Free in AZ:
1-(866) 837-4399

Email:

Securities Enforcement:
SecuritiesDiv@azcc.gov

Registration:
SEC-AOD@azcc.gov