The British Columbia Securities Commission announced that Michael Ongun Gokturk, the sole director of three now-dissolved companies behind the Einstein crypto trading platform, has admitted responsibility for their fraud and agreed to pay $1 million, described as the maximum amount available for the misconduct. He is also permanently restricted from participating in British Columbia’s investment market. Between September 2017 and November 2019, the Einstein Corporations accepted customer deposits and transferred those assets into corporate bank accounts and wallets at third-party trading platforms, and used customer deposits to fund operations and pay other customers’ withdrawals, which the BCSC said was inconsistent with the platform’s “safe and secure” promise. Gokturk directed, authorized or acquiesced in the misconduct and was found to have contravened the same provision of the Securities Act as the companies; the release notes he had no history of securities misconduct and did not misappropriate funds or benefit from the misconduct, and that he contributed about $1 million of his own money to fund the platform and return some funds to users. The BCSC sought an interim receiver in November 2019; the receiver reported less than $45,000 in cash and crypto and customer liabilities of more than USD 18 million, and the companies were dissolved in 2020 with no assets. The commission also reiterated that most crypto trading platforms must be registered with Canadian securities regulators and that customers should use only registered platforms.

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