th<\/span>\u00a0to request a hearing and, instead sent a letter back to Commissioner Cooper saying they refuse to comply with the order as they did not feel they were in violation of Texas statutes. Read the full letter here.<\/p>\nI\u2019m no legal expert, nor am I going to go into the legal ramifications of this case because I\u2019m unqualified to offer up even the most rudimentary analysis. In full disclosure I bought a small amount of the AriseBank ICO out of curiosity. What I\u2019m interested in is the severity of the response from both the State of Texas and the SEC.<\/p>\n
Challenges Arise<\/h3>\n
AriseBank\u2019s stated business model of a decentralized banking, trading and forex platform is revolutionary. For that reason alone I couldn\u2019t not put a small bet on it. But, at the same time, I also saw that it put the company squarely in the cross-hairs of the regulators. Banking is the most important pillar of the government\u2019s power base, make no mistake about that. So, they have motive to shut down any direct challenge to the banking system before it gets even marginally capitalized.<\/p>\n
The SEC issued a directive last year declaring most ICOs as securities and therefore are to be regulated as such. This was the reason stated for the raid. The SEC disagrees with AriseBank\u2019s assertion that AriseCoin is a \u2018utility token\u2019 used within the AriseBank network of services. Apparently, the raid occurred without any warning from the SEC. Agents just showed up with AR-15s, handcuffed people and confiscated everything.<\/p>\n
There is definitely a gray area here. I can see the SEC\u2019s point but the response was designed to create maximal fear in the crypto-community, not to protect consumers. This is an organization that slaps the biggest banks in the world a 0.01% fine after they steal hundreds of billions of dollars.<\/p>\n
They are the very definition of regulatory capture, with most employees looking to use it as a stepping stone to a big Wall St. job later. In the US, the courts will almost certainly decide in the SEC\u2019s favor. Most investors haven\u2019t wrapped their heads around the changes to existing business models offered up by crypto\u2019s decentralization.<\/p>\n
Do you really think regulators and judges who have a vested interest in maintaining the status quo are going to give this a fair hearing? So, it almost seems like AriseBank was created for the sole purpose of challenging the SEC on securities law and State banking regulators on the definition of what constitutes a bank.<\/p>\n
They could have easily complied with the State of Texas from the outset and simply requested a hearing. That would have put off any potential action from that avenue until a hearing date was set. Their response to the State of Texas, while impassioned, was amateurish at best. It reminds me of the response from the folks at NORFED when the Liberty Dollar offices were raided back in 2007. Quoting the Constitution and invoking the concept of bank slavery is not going to win you any friends in high places.<\/p>\n
In fact, it\u2019s going to ensure they come down on you as hard as possible. It makes little strategic sense to immediately go into full confrontation mode with the State of Texas unless that was your plan all along.<\/p>\n
Questions Abound<\/h3>\n
In fact, why incorporate in the State of Texas or any US State for that matter if your goal was to build the world\u2019s first truly decentralized bank? The US has the most hostile banking and securities laws in the world. They are the reason why many of the foreign cryptocurrency exchanges refuse to do business with American citizens. Laws like FATCA make it very expensive to cater to US clientele for overseas financial services companies.<\/p>\n
So, it may have been the idea from the beginning that part of AriseBank\u2019s ICO funds were to be used to fight a legal battle for existence. But, I\u2019m just speculating here. This is a company looking to raise as much as $1 billion. And it looked like they were well on their way to doing so.<\/p>\n
If you were ready to build a multi-billion dollar decentralized bank, the first of its kind, then why do it in the most hostile environment to this idea on the planet? And what kind of legal council would allow its client to issue the letter to the Texas Banking Commissioner that it did?<\/p>\n
The whole thing seems fishy. But, not in a way which invites early claims that AriseBank is\/was a scam. Those posts are out there, but their claims are even flimsier than the justifications for everyone\u2019s actions in this case. No the curious case of AriseBank is that the establishment just tipped their hand as to how desperate they are to stop the crypto-revolution in its tracks before it goes much further. There will be more raids, more attacks on people\u2019s homes for their crypto-wallet private keys, etc.<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t know if AriseBank is dead, but I do know that the next attempt at a decentralized bank will not underestimate the response time of those whose power they challenge.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Feature Image via BigStock.<\/em><\/p>\nSource: Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Last week the SEC raided the offices<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":145689,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n
The Curious Case of AriseBank - Pre Coin News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/crypto\/the-curious-case-of-arisebank\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Curious Case of AriseBank - Pre Coin News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Last week the SEC raided the offices\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/crypto\/the-curious-case-of-arisebank\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Pre Coin News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-11-24T15:47:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"mediabest\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/The-Curious-Case-of-AriseBank.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"mediabest\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/crypto\/the-curious-case-of-arisebank\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/crypto\/the-curious-case-of-arisebank\/\",\"name\":\"The Curious Case of AriseBank - Pre Coin News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2021-11-24T15:47:44+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-11-24T15:47:44+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ad0e9920e03d3b41c7ad02a18375d76a\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/crypto\/the-curious-case-of-arisebank\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/crypto\/the-curious-case-of-arisebank\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/crypto\/the-curious-case-of-arisebank\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Crypto\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/category\/crypto\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"The Curious Case of AriseBank\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/\",\"name\":\"Pre Coin News\",\"description\":\"precoinnews.com\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ad0e9920e03d3b41c7ad02a18375d76a\",\"name\":\"mediabest\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f5f13cb3b94fc348d515c0951f6ca073?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f5f13cb3b94fc348d515c0951f6ca073?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"mediabest\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Curious Case of AriseBank - Pre Coin News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/crypto\/the-curious-case-of-arisebank\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Curious Case of AriseBank - Pre Coin News","og_description":"Last week the SEC raided the offices","og_url":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/crypto\/the-curious-case-of-arisebank\/","og_site_name":"Pre Coin News","article_published_time":"2021-11-24T15:47:44+00:00","author":"mediabest","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_image":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/The-Curious-Case-of-AriseBank.jpg","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"mediabest","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/crypto\/the-curious-case-of-arisebank\/","url":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/crypto\/the-curious-case-of-arisebank\/","name":"The Curious Case of AriseBank - Pre Coin News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2021-11-24T15:47:44+00:00","dateModified":"2021-11-24T15:47:44+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ad0e9920e03d3b41c7ad02a18375d76a"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/crypto\/the-curious-case-of-arisebank\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/crypto\/the-curious-case-of-arisebank\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/crypto\/the-curious-case-of-arisebank\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Crypto","item":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/category\/crypto\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"The Curious Case of AriseBank"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/","name":"Pre Coin News","description":"precoinnews.com","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ad0e9920e03d3b41c7ad02a18375d76a","name":"mediabest","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f5f13cb3b94fc348d515c0951f6ca073?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f5f13cb3b94fc348d515c0951f6ca073?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"mediabest"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145690"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=145690"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145690\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/145689"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=145690"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=145690"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=145690"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}