

Sand Hill Exchange – Response to SEC Enforcement Action - davidgerard
http://blog.sandhill.exchange/post/121768113883/sand-hill-exchange-response-to-sec-enforcement

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anigbrowl
Now this is a much more measured and thoughtful response than the one from a
few weeks back. A little mindfulness about why regulatory frameworks exist in
the first place goes a really long way, and now that this mistake is out of
the way I think Sand Hill Exchange has great future potential.

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pjg
Good response. Still feel that SEC has more important things to do than fine
unfunded startups in a garage with 2 people

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davidgerard
Even "unfunded startups in a garage with 2 people" should be able to figure
out that _faking trading volume_ when you're dealing with _trading things of
value_ is gonna be iffy. Even on the blockchain.

Realistically, "creative entrepreneurs" are going to have trouble when their
operation is indistinguishable in every detail from "bucket shop scammers with
fraud layered upon fraud", and a $20k fine is a super-cheap lesson.

The Matt Levine piece sets out just some of the ridiculously obvious
illegalities. And he did actually tell them already that this was trouble
brewing: [http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2015-06-19/bitcoin-
buc...](http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2015-06-19/bitcoin-bucket-shop-
kicks-bucket)

