BOISE, Idaho — The Idaho Department of Finance (IDOF) announced Monday that it has entered into a settlement with TradeStation Crypto, Inc. (TradeStation) to resolve an investigation into TradeStation’s crypto interest-earning program.
“Idaho is seeing an increase in crypto-investment scams,” said IDOF Director Patricia Perkins. “It’s vitally important for legitimate crypto-market service providers to comply with existing laws when selling investments and services in Idaho."
According to the IDOF, TradeStation is a Florida corporation formed in 2018 that provides crypto-asset-related financial services, including investing and trading services. The IDOF says, from August 2020 to June 2022, TradeStation offered a crypto interest-earning program to Idaho investors, and under this program, investors passively earned interest on crypto assets by loaning them to TradeStation. IDOF says TradeStation maintained total discretion over the revenue-generating activities used to earn returns for investors, and the company offered and promoted their crypto interest-earning program in Idaho and the United States at large via its website and various platforms.
The $1.5 million multistate settlement, is the result of a North American Securities Administrators Association task force of eight state securities regulators from Alabama, California, Mississippi, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, Washington, and Wisconsin. The task force determined that TradeStation engaged in the unregistered offer and sale of securities via its crypto interest-earning program.
The IDOF cautions investors to thoroughly research any investment opportunity. Call the IDOF at 1-800-332-8000 and ask for the Securities Bureau to research anyone selling investment opportunities.
You can also contact the IDOF to report suspected fraud, inappropriate securities business practices, or to obtain consumer information.
