The US federal authorities are strict against ICOs, or initial coin offerings. Projects are being shut down before they can even get started and this is now happening at State level.

Colorado ICOs Shut Down

Four more ICOs in Colorado were put on notice on Tuesday. This brings the total number of ICOs stopped by the state’s bodies to 18 this month.

That number is expected to reach 20 as the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies hinted that two more ICOs are pending. The state’s ‘ICO Task Force’ is investigating heavily into any proposed ICOs. It demands that each venture stop offering unregistered securities.

Commissioner Gerald Rome spoke on the issue saying investors should be wary:

“The sheer number of orders entered against ICOs should be a red flag to all investors that there is a real risk that the ICO you are considering is a fraud […] Our investigations show that there are fraudsters who will simply create a fake ICO to steal investors’ money or spoof a legitimate ICO to trick investors into wrongfully paying them.”

Targetted Companies

One of the targetted companies this week is Global Pay Net. It’s understandable why state regulators put this company on notice.

It was offering GLPN Coins for a financial platform based on blockchain technology, but its ICO was showing major red flags. One issue was that two team members listed on the company’s website denied being affiliated with the project. Further, the company’s listed phone number was disconnected, and verifications could not be made as a result. Another red flag raised was that the business is not registered in Washington state despite it supposedly being located there.