Galvin Halts 5 Firms' ICO Sales in Massachusetts

A spokesperson for Galvin's office told ThinkAdvisor on Tuesday that the commonwealth secretary "has put together a team of enforcement attorneys to police this [ICO] area, and their work is ongoing."

ICOs, Galvin warned, are often used by firms seeking to avoid investor protection provisions required by federal and state laws.

"I encourage anyone in Massachusetts who is thinking of investing in these new initial coin offerings to make sure the people they are giving their hard-earned money to are legitimately doing business," Galvin said in a statement.

"Do not be fooled by get-rich schemes trying to capitalize on the current Bitcoin craze," Galvin said. "An offering done to avoid registration with regulators should be seen as a red flag, and you should contact my office before investing."

Galvin in mid-January charged a Brookline man and his company with the unregistered sale of a security marketed as "Caviar Tokens," which would be used to fund house-flipping real estate projects, in addition to financing the acquisition of a portfolio of various cryptocurrencies.

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