By Sabela Ojea
Cryptocurrency platform CoinEx has been banned from operating in the U.S. and will exit the market following a lawsuit from New York Attorney General Letitia James's Office.
The Hong-Kong-based platform, founded in 2017 and advertised as "a professional global cryptocurrency exchange" on its website, has agreed to refund 4,691 New York investors over $1.1 million and pay more than $600,000 in penalties to the state of New York.
CoinEx failed to register as a securities and commodities broker-dealer and misrepresented itself as a crypto exchange, the attorney general's office said Thursday about the lawsuit it had filed in February.
Under CoinEx, investors could trade digital assets such as bitcoin and Luna through its website and app.
"Today's agreement should serve as a warning to crypto companies that there are hefty consequences for ignoring New York's laws," James said.
Representatives for CoinEx didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
The attorney general's office said it has recovered over $500 million from the cryptocurrency industry for violating New York laws.
Meanwhile, other crypto exchanges such as Binance and Coinbase are fighting their own battles in the U.S. amid lawsuits from the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Write to Sabela Ojea at sabela.ojea@wsj.com; @sabelaojeaguix
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
06-15-23 1308ET
