The US Securities and Exchange Commission ( SEC ) has halted Dallas - based AriseBank 's $ 1bn initial coin offering , claiming the enterprise is " an outright scam " . A court order also froze AriseBank 's assets and , in a first for the financial space , called in a receiver . The SEC alleges AriseBank " misrepresented the company as a first - of - its - kind decentralised bank offering its own cryptocurrency " . In addition , AriseBank is accused of falsely claiming it had acquired a bank insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation ( FDIC ) , enabling it to offer products for FDIC - insured accounts and Visa cards .
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has halted Dallas-based AriseBank's $1bn initial coin offering, alleging the enterprise is "an outright scam". A court order also froze AriseBank's assets and, in a first for the ICO space, brought in a receiver. The SEC alleges AriseBank "misrepresented the company as a first-of-its-kind decentralised bank offering its own cryptocurrency". In addition, AriseBank is accused of falsely claiming it had acquired a bank insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), enabling it to offer products including FDIC-insured accounts and Visa cards.