<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"><head><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml><o:OfficeDocumentSettings><o:AllowPNG/><o:PixelsPerInch>96</o:PixelsPerInch></o:OfficeDocumentSettings></xml><![endif]--></head><body><div style="color:#000; background-color:#fff; font-family:garamond, new york, times, serif;font-size:16px"><h1 style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; border: 0px; font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-weight: 300; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.4; font-family: Raleway, sans-serif; font-size: 2.4em; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(111, 116, 121); clear: both; word-break: break-word;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1517401082021_37262"><br></h1><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1517401082021_37299" dir="ltr"><a href="https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2018-8" class="enhancr2_38134d40-e10b-f20e-ea9e-f5fdeec79e09" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1517401082021_38852">SEC.gov | SEC Halts Alleged Initial Coin Offering Scam</a></div><div><br></div><div id="enhancr2_38134d40-e10b-f20e-ea9e-f5fdeec79e09" class="yahoo-link-enhancr-card yahoo-link-enhancr-not-allow-cover ymail-preserve-class ymail-preserve-style" style="max-width:400px;font-family:'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;" contenteditable="false" data-url="https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2018-8" data-type="yenhancr" data-category="article" data-embed-url="" data-size="medium" dir="ltr"> <a href="https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2018-8" style="text-decoration:none !important; 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font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 574.109px; float: left; color: rgb(16, 31, 54);" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1517401082021_40620"><h1 style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-weight: 300; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.4; font-family: Raleway, sans-serif; font-size: 2.4em; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(111, 116, 121); clear: both; word-break: break-word;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1517401082021_40621">SEC Halts Alleged Initial Coin Offering </h1><h1 style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-weight: 300; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.4; font-family: Raleway, sans-serif; font-size: 2.4em; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(111, 116, 121); clear: both; word-break: break-word;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1517401082021_40621">Scam</h1><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 4px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 600; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5; font-family: inherit; font-size: 1em; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(39, 58, 86); text-rendering: optimizeLegibility; clear: both; width: 574.109px;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1517401082021_40622">FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1517401082021_40623">2018-8</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding-right: 5px; border: 0px; font-style: italic; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(39, 58, 86); text-rendering: optimizeLegibility; clear: left; display: inline; float: left;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1517401082021_40624">Washington D.C., Jan. 30, 2018 —</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5; font-family: inherit; font-size: 1em; vertical-align: baseline;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1517401082021_40625"><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(39, 58, 86); text-rendering: optimizeLegibility;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1517401082021_40626">The Securities and Exchange Commission obtained a court order halting an allegedly fraudulent initial coin offering (ICO) that targeted retail investors to fund what it claimed to be the world’s first “decentralized bank.”</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(39, 58, 86); text-rendering: optimizeLegibility;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1517401082021_40627">According to the SEC’s complaint, filed in federal district court in Dallas on Jan. 25 and unsealed late yesterday, Dallas-based AriseBank used social media, a celebrity endorsement, and other wide dissemination tactics to raise what it claims to be $600 million of its $1 billion goal in just two months.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(39, 58, 86); text-rendering: optimizeLegibility;" dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1517401082021_40628">AriseBank and its co-founders Jared Rice Sr. and Stanley Ford allegedly offered and sold unregistered investments in their purported “AriseCoin” cryptocurrency by depicting AriseBank as a first-of-its-kind decentralized bank offering a variety of consumer-facing banking products and services using more than 700 different virtual currencies. AriseBank’s sales pitch claimed that it developed an algorithmic trading application that automatically trades in various cryptocurrencies.</div></div></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1517401082021_40278"><br></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1517401082021_40278"><br></div><div></div><div> </div><div class="signature" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1517401082021_40647"><br></div><div class="signature" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1517401082021_40647"><br></div><div class="signature" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1517401082021_40647"><br></div><div class="signature" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1517401082021_40647"><br></div><div class="signature" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1517401082021_40647"><br></div><div class="signature" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1517401082021_40647"><br></div><div class="signature" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1517401082021_40647"><br></div><div class="signature" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1517401082021_40647"><br></div><div class="signature" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1517401082021_40647"><br></div><div class="signature" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1517401082021_40647"><br></div><div class="signature" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1517401082021_40647"><br></div><div class="signature" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1517401082021_40647"><br></div><div class="signature" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1517401082021_40647"><br></div><div class="signature" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1517401082021_40647"><br></div><div class="signature" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1517401082021_40647"><br></div><div class="signature" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1517401082021_40647"><br></div><div class="signature" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1517401082021_40647"><br></div><div class="signature" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1517401082021_40647"><br></div><div class="signature" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1517401082021_40647"><br></div><div class="signature" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1517401082021_40647"><br></div><div class="signature" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1517401082021_40647"><br></div><div class="signature" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1517401082021_40647"><br></div><div class="signature" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1517401082021_40647"><br></div><div class="signature" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1517401082021_40647"><br></div><div class="signature" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1517401082021_40647"><br></div><div class="signature" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1517401082021_40647"><font size="5" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1517401082021_43984">With the ingenuity and open innovation in the crypto world, this must make someone refer to what CBK said once....or alluded to.</font></div><div class="signature" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1517401082021_40647"><font size="5"><br></font></div><div class="signature" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1517401082021_40647"><font size="5">Be blessed.</font></div><div class="signature" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1517401082021_40647"><font size="5"><br></font></div><div class="signature" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1517401082021_40647"><font size="5">Regards/Wangari</font></div><div class="signature" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1517401082021_40647"><br></div><div class="signature" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1517401082021_40647">---<br></div><div class="signature" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1517401082021_40647"><font style="font-weight:bold;font-family:verdana, helvetica, sans-serif;" size="2"><span style="color:rgb(127, 0, 63);">Pray God Bless. 2013Wangari circa - </span><span style="color:rgb(127, 0, 63);">"Being of the Light, We are Restored Through Faith in Mind, Body and Spirit; We Manifest The Kingdom of God on Earth".</span></font><br></div></div></body></html>