Post
Topic
Board Press
Re: [2019-01-07] US Feds Raid Tech Hub for Unauthorized Crypto Trading: Report
by
squatter
on 07/01/2019, 18:23:42 UTC
Wood-TV reported that Boden had stated he was “commercially trading in crypto-currency [sic] without the proper authorization.”

The founder also reportedly believes he is facing federal prison time and up to $100,000 in legal expenses.

Read more: https://cointelegraph.com/news/us-feds-raid-tech-hub-for-unauthorized-crypto-trading-report

The details are really minimal here. I can't figure out exactly what he's being charged for. "Commercial trading" is a term usually employed by the CFTC to characterize traders that use futures markets to hedge their business activities:

Quote
Entities that make up the commercial trader classification can include futures commission merchants, foreign brokers, clearing members or even investment banks that buy index futures to hedge current long positions.

Commercial traders are required to register with the CFTC and make periodic disclosures. "Trading authorization" usually refers to clients granting authority to brokers to places trades on their behalf. It sounds like Boden was running a brokerage of sorts and dipping into customer accounts without the proper authority.

However, that doesn't explain why the DHS and FBI are involved as opposed to the CFTC or SEC. I don't really get it.