Showing posts with label Steven Seagal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Steven Seagal. Show all posts

Update: The ICO 80's action star Steven Seagal was promoting has been ordered to shut down.

About 3 weeks ago we covered the "Bitcoiin" ICO that actor Steven Seagal was promoting (read that article here).

Now, the New Jersey Bureau of Securities has issued them a cease and desist order.

The celebrity endorsement itself may have also been illegal, citing a previous SEC directive that any celebrity endorsement of an ICO should disclose the nature, scope, and amount of compensation paid to the celebrity. 

The statement from the NJ Bureau of Securities reads:

“The Bitcoiin Websites do not disclose what expertise, if any, Steven Seagal has to ensure that the Bitcoiin investments are appropriate and in compliance with federal and state securities laws. Additionally, there are no disclosures as to the nature, scope, and amount of compensation paid by Bitcoiin in exchange for Steven Seagal’s promotion of the Bitcoiin investments.”

While there are no new announcements posted in direct response to the cease and desist, an older post from when Bitcoiin first started receiving criticism titled 'PRESS RELEASE: TO CLARIFY SOME FACTS AND RESPONSE ON ALLEGATIONS' says:

 "...we are not an MLM company or any Pyramid Scheme or Scamming people, all of these allegations are false and just an attempt to discourage people from becoming a part of the Bitcoiin2Gen, Crypto-Currencies, and Crypto-economies."

Unfortunately, even if everything they say is true - that leaves plenty of red flags.  The site owners are remaining anonymous (remember Bitconnect?) and they're promoting an Ethereum based ERC20 token but named it after a misspelling of Bitcoin - which appears to be a bold attempt to confuse people new to cryptocurrency.
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Author: Adam Lee
Asia News Desk

80's action star Steven Seagal is pushing a questionable ICO/pyramid scheme...


Today on Twitter, top action star in the 1980's and 90's Steven Seagal began his role as a brand ambassador for a questionable ICO going by the name "bitcoiin" - that's not a typo, the name of the coin is Bitcoiin with two i's.  Tweeting:
Followed by a press release from the company announcing Seagals's new position, stating in part:

"As a Buddhist, Zen teacher, and healer, Steven lives by the principles that the development of the physical self is essential to protect the spiritual man. He believes that what he does in his life is about leading people into contemplation to wake them up and enlighten them in some manner. These are precisely the objectives of the Bitcoiin2Gen to empower the community by providing a decentralized P2P payment system with its own wallet, mining ecosystem and robust blockchain platform without the need of any third party."


But what is Bitcoiin? Well, no one really knows. Largely because of a huge red flag the site shares with previous scam coins - it's creators are remaining anonymous - much like Bitconnect or USI-Tech, which both received cease and desist orders from the US SEC.

There's another part to the platform you may recognize from previous crypto-scams:

But let me guess - it's 'not a pyramid scheme'?
On the topic of the SEC, they've spoken out about celebrity endorsements of ICO's before, stating in November last year

"Celebrities and others are using social media networks to encourage the public to purchase stocks and other investments. These endorsements may be unlawful if they do not disclose the nature, source, and amount of any compensation paid, directly or indirectly, by the company in exchange for the endorsement."

Seagal however likely doesn't care - he lives in Russia today, well outside of reach of US regulators.
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Author: Ross Davis
San Francisco News Desk
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