Vancouver-based cryptocurrency trader Einstein Exchange shut down
Credit to Author: David Carrigg| Date: Tue, 05 Nov 2019 03:10:38 +0000
A receiver has seized the assets of Vancouver-based cryptoasset trading platform Einstein Exchange.
In a statement, the B.C. Securities Commission said interim receiver Grant Thornton Ltd. “entered and secured the premises of Einstein Exchange on Nov. 1.”
This came after the Securities Commission applied to the Supreme Court of B.C. for an order appointing an interim receiver to preserve and protect any assets of the Einstein Exchange, based in downtown Vancouver.
As part of its application to the Supreme Court, the Commission stated it had received numerous complaints from Einstein clients who had not been able to access their assets. On Oct. 31, Einstein told the Commission it would be closing within two months due to a “lack of profit” and was attempting to sell its assets to another provider.
According to the Commission, the company was incorporated in December, 2017, by its sole director Michael Ongun Gokturk as a cryptocurrency exchange dealing in Bitcoin, Dash, Etherium and other digital currencies. The Commission had been investigating the company since May, 2019, based on concerns that included “potential money laundering.” The Commission alleges Einstein improperly used their customers’ assets. Einstein owes customers over $16 million.
The Commission has not authorized any cryptoasset trading platforms to operate as an exchange.
It said that it, “along with other Canadian securities regulators, continues to urge Canadians to exercise caution when buying or selling any cryptoassets due to various risks, including the loss of some or all of their investment,” the regulator said in the statement.