CFTC Sues Crypto Trading Firm for Misrepresentation Related to Proposal for Futures Contract

The CFTC filed a Complaint against a crypto trading firm for providing false or incomplete statements of material facts as the CFTC was evaluating a proposal to list and trade bitcoin futures.

In a Complaint filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, the CFTC alleged that the company's personnel conveyed or omitted information they knew, or reasonably should have known, was misleading as to how susceptible the firm's bitcoin trading platform and its auction were to manipulation. The CFTC claimed that the alleged misleading statements were made during in-person meetings with CFTC staff and in presentation materials.

The CFTC alleged that the company violated CEA Section 6(c) ("Prohibition regarding manipulation and false information").

The CFTC seeks to impose a permanent injunction on engaging in transactions involving "commodity interests," a civil monetary penalty and disgorgement of amounts derived from the illegal acts.