FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

February 7, 2024?

Contact:? ?Jesse Devine, Maine Securities Administrator, 207-624-8551

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Maine Joins $3 Million State and Federal Settlements with Crypto Platform TradeStation

Gardiner, MAINE ? The Maine Office of Securities today announced the entry of a consent order against TradeStation Crypto, Inc. (TradeStation) relating to the company?s unregistered crypto interest-earning program. The consent order finds that TradeStation violated Maine law by offering and selling securities without proper registration or disclosure to investors.

As part of coordinated settlements with state and federal regulators, TradeStation has agreed to pay up to $3 million in fines and penalties and to cease and desist offering its crypto interest-earning program or any security that does not comply with applicable laws and regulations. TradeStation also has repaid affected investors in full, including interest.

As a result of the Maine consent order, TradeStation has paid $29,411.76 into the state?s Securities Restitution Assistance Fund.

?The consent order announced today sends a clear message that crypto-related businesses must follow the law like everyone else,? said Securities Administrator Jesse Devine. ?The Maine Office of Securities is committed to protecting investors and the integrity of financial markets.?

TradeStation, a Florida corporation formed in 2018, provides crypto-asset-related financial services to retail and institutional customers in the United States, including investing and trading services. From August 1, 2020 to June 2022, TradeStation offered and promoted a crypto interest-earning program to investors in Maine and throughout the United States via its website and other platforms. Under this program, investors passively earned interest on crypto assets by loaning them to TradeStation, which maintained total discretion over the revenue-generating activities from which it paid returns to investors.

TradeStation?s failure to comply with registration requirements meant that investors were sold unregistered securities in violation of state law and additionally were deprived of critical information and disclosures necessary to understand the potential risks of TradeStation?s crypto interest-earning program.

The settlement stems from a comprehensive investigation led by state securities regulators in Alabama, California, Mississippi, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, Washington and Wisconsin, coordinated under the auspices of the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) Enforcement Section Committee.

The Maine Securities Administrator previously entered consent orders against crypto companies NEXO Capital Inc. in February 2023 and BlockFi Lending LLC in June 2022 for their unregistered offer and sale of securities in the form of similar crypto interest-earning programs.

The Maine Office of Securities urges investors to be careful when dealing with crypto-related businesses and to report any suspicious activities to the Office at 207-624-8551. Investors can also visit the Office of Securities website at www.investors.maine.gov to file a complaint, get information about financial professionals, and learn more about how to protect themselves from fraud and scams.

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The Office of Securities is an agency within Maine?s Department of Professional and Financial Regulation (www.maine.gov/pfr)

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