DJ Khaled and boxer Floyd Mayweather will pay big fines to the government for the way they promoted initial coin offerings.
Miguel Gutierrez Jr / KUT Austin.
Bennu Coffee is one of four locations in Austin that is home to Bitcoin ATMs.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed charges last week against hip hop producer DJ Khaled and boxer Floyd Mayweather. The two have settled with the government over claims they encouraged fans to invest in initial coin offerings without disclosing that they were being paid to do so. It’s the first case of its kind, and just the latest blow for the once high-flying cryptocurrency market. Tech maven Omar Gallaga says BitCoin’s rapid rise in value last year got a lot of potential investors excited about all kinds of cryptocurrency offerings. But now, prices are way down, and regulators are looking out for scams. And questions about to regulate corn offerings are growing.
“Are these securities? Can you call them securities, and if so, are they regulated by those same rules that wold apply to stocks?” Gallaga says.