A visual representation of digital currencies.
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New York Attorney General Letitia James on Monday sent a strong warning to investors and industry members about the dangers of cryptocurrencies.
“We send a clear message to the entire industry that it is complying with the rules or that we will close it,” he said in a press release.
James ’warning, which was aimed at individual investors and members of the crypto industry, comes amid a major start to 2021 for digital assets like bitcoin.
The cryptocurrency rose to a new all-time high above $ 58,000 earlier this month, after drawing the attention of Wall Street banks, companies like Tesla and even the U.S. government.
Bitcoin, which was created in 2009, has evolved from a protest against the banking system to becoming a “digital gold” that is beginning to trap major investors.
Investment banks such as JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs have shown interest in the asset class. In addition, companies like Mastercard have made significant moves to support cryptocurrencies. Tesla invested $ 1.5 billion in bitcoins in February.
According to CoinDesk, the price of bitcoin has risen more than 10% in the last 24 hours to reach $ 48,528, at approximately 13:51 pm ET. Other popular digital currencies include Ethereum and Litecoin.
James told members of the cryptographic industry in New York that they had to be registered with the prosecutor’s investor protection office.
The parties who are required to register, but do not do so, are subject to civil and criminal execution, the office said in a statement.
Monday’s alert comes two weeks after the attorney general filed a lawsuit against Coinseed, a trading platform for digital currency.
James alleged that Coinseed was operating a virtual currency trading business in New York, operating as an unregistered broker for more than three years while raising more than $ 1 million in investor assets.
“We will not hesitate to take action against anyone who breaks the law,” he said
“Too often, greedy industry agents take unnecessary risks with investors’ money, but today we are leveling the playing field and issuing alerts to both investors and industry members across the country, ”James added. .
He also told investors to be cautious when investing in cryptocurrencies.
“All investors should proceed with extreme caution when investing in virtual currencies. Cryptocurrencies are unstable and high-risk investments that can cause devastating losses as quickly as they can provide gains,” James said.
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