SEC suspends trading in Bitcoin Tracker One, Ether Tracker One issued by XBT Provider
There is no current, consistent and accurate information concerning these products, the US regulator says.
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has determined to suspend trading in the securities Bitcoin Tracker One (CXBTF) and Ether Tracker One (CETHF), issued by XBT Provider AB, a Swedish company.
In its Order, the regulator says there is a lack of current, consistent and accurate information concerning these products resulting in confusion amongst market participants regarding these financial instruments.
For instance, the broker-dealer application materials submitted to enable the offer and sale of these financial products in the United States, as well as certain trading websites, characterize them as “Exchange Traded Funds.” Other public sources characterize the instruments as “Exchange Traded Notes.” By contrast, the issuer characterizes them in its offering materials as “non-equity linked certificates.” CXBTF and CETHF are listed and trade on the NASDAQ/OMX in Stockholm and have recently been quoted on OTC Link (previously “Pink Sheets”) operated by OTC Markets Group, Inc.
The regulator finds that the public interest and the protection of investors require a suspension of trading in the securities of the above quoted company.
Hence the trading in the securities is suspended for the period from 5:30 p.m. EDT on September 9, 2018, through 11:59 p.m. EDT on September 20, 2018. During such trading suspension, however, a broker-dealer may engage in activities within the United States solely for the purpose of assisting non-broker-dealer customers with the liquidation of owned positions1 held as of the date of this order in a transaction (or series of transactions ending with a sale) effected on the Nasdaq Nordic or other trading platform located outside the United States or with non-US persons located outside the United States including the issuer.
This is not the first time the Commission suspends trading in securities in companies whose activities are related to cryptocurrencies. In April this year, for example, the SEC announced a temporary suspension of trading in the securities of IBITX Software Inc, a New York corporation. The Commission attributed its decision to “questions regarding the accuracy of assertions by IBXS, a New York corporation whose principal place of business is listed as the Philippines, in press releases to investors and disclosure statements concerning, among other things, the company’s development of alternative forms of currency, and the company’s operation of a cryptocurrency platform”.
