Australia Securities Investments Commission pulls the plug on ICO

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Global Tech Exchange, a blockchain project out of Brisbane, Australia, has found the guillotine of Australia’s financial regulators. According to an announcement on its website, the company was ordered to be shut down by the Australia Securities Investments Commission (ASIC).

Global Tech had been looking to attract up to $50 million through an initial coin offering (ICO), which will now be buried. According to the company, the ICO is in violation of securities laws, according to the ASIC, and that it “has issued full refunds to all investors” that have already sent it money. Any investor who has not received a refund should contact the company through its email address, [email protected]. The exact amount it may have attracted is not known.

The ICO began on September 12, according to ICO Bench, a site that tracks ICOs. The company was looking to raise anywhere from $10 million to $50 million through the offering, which would have ended on December 10. Global Tech first came to the public eye this past August after receiving an endorsement by Michael Clarke, a popular cricket player. According to the company’s announcement of the ICO closure, it added that Clarke is no longer involved with the company.

Since this past April, the ASIC has ordered five ICOs to shut down—now six with the Global Tech ICO. Some of the closures were only meant to be temporary, as the commission gave certain companies the opportunity to comply with regulations, while others were ordered to exit the blockchain space completely. As far as the Global Tech ban, the company said in its announcement, “Global Tech would like to inform you that it wishes to comply with all of ASIC’s requirements and requests, to the best of it’s [sic] ability,” meaning that it might try to resurrect the ICO at some point.

It would appear that Global Tech was prepared for the shutdown. In a notice on the ASIC website, the commission states, “ASIC has received an application to deregister the Company under s601AA. ASIC may deregister the Company when two months have passed since publication of this notice.”