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The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced settled charges with Bitqyck Inc. and its founders, who allegedly defrauded investors in securities offerings of two digital assets, Bitqy and BitqyM, and operated an unregistered exchange to permit trading in one of them, a digital token called Bitqy.

According to the SEC’s complaint, Bitqyck and founders Bruce Bise and Sam Mendez created and sold Bitqy and BitqyM in unregistered securities offerings to more than 13,000 investors, raising more than $13 million. Investors allegedly received $4.5 million for referring new investors to Bitqyck, but collectively lost more than two-thirds of their investment in the Dallas-based company.

The SEC’s complaint alleges that Bise and Mendez misrepresented QyckDeals, a daily deals platform using Bitqy, as a global online marketplace, and falsely claimed that each Bitqy token provided fractional shares of Bitqyck stock through a “smart contract.” The complaint alleges that the defendants falsely told investors that BitqyM tokens provided an interest in a Bitqyck cryptocurrency mining facility powered by below-market rate electricity. In reality, Bitqyck did not have access to discounted electricity and didn’t own any mining facility. Bitqyck, aided and abetted by its founders, also is alleged to have illegally operated TradeBQ, an unregistered national security exchange offering trading in a single security, Bitqy.

The SEC’s complaint, filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, charges Bitqyck, Bise and Mendez with violations of Sections 5(a), 5(c), and 17(a) of the Securities Act and 10(b) of the Exchange Act and Rule 10b-5 thereunder, and charges Bitqyck with violating Section 5 of the Exchange Act and Bise and Mendez with aiding and abetting that violation. The complaint seeks permanent injunctions, return of allegedly ill-gotten gains with interest, and civil money penalties. Without admitting or denying the allegations, Bitqyck, Bise and Mendez consented to final judgments agreeing to all the injunctive relief. Bitqyck also consented to an order requiring that it pay disgorgement, prejudgment interest and a civil penalty of $8,375,617. Bise and Mendez consented to the entry of an order that they each pay disgorgement, prejudgment interest and a civil penalty of $890,254 and $850,022, respectively.

The SEC’s investigation was conducted by David Hirsch, Melvin Warren, and Carol Hahn with litigation support from Keefe Bernstein, and supervised by Scott F. Mascianica and Eric R. Werner of the SEC’s Fort Worth Regional Office.  The SEC appreciates the assistance of the Texas State Securities Board, and the State of Hawaii Office of the Securities Commissioner.