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New York Attorney General (NYAG) Letitia James has urged New Yorkers who've found themselves locked out of their accounts or who've been "deceived about their cryptocurrency investments" to contact her office.
In an investor alert issued by the Office of the Attorney General (OAG), James said that "The recent turbulence and significant losses in the cryptocurrency market are concerning," adding that crypto investors "were promised large returns on cryptocurrencies, but instead lost their hard-earned money."
She asked New Yorkers who believe they were "deceived by crypto platforms" during the crypto crash to contact her office, and called on workers in crypto firms to "file a whistleblower complaint" if they believe they witnessed misconduct or fraud.
In recent months, investors have lost hundreds of billions in crypto investments, and crypto businesses have frozen withdrawals, announced mass layoffs, and gone bankrupt.
If New Yorkers think they've been deceived by crypto platforms, contact us: https://t.co/aoSG39XTQO
— NY AG James (@NewYorkStateAG) August 1, 2022
The New York Attorney General's office is particularly interested in hearing from investors who've either been locked out of their accounts or found themselves unable to access their investments.
New Yorkers who believe they are the victim of "fraudulent or deceptive conduct" are also encouraged to share their experiences with the NYAG's office.
The investor alert singles out the May 2022 Terra crash as well as the account freezes on crypto staking and earning platforms, including Anchor, Celsius, Voyager, and Stablegains, urging those affected to contact the OAG's Investor Protection Bureau.
This isn't James' first showdown with the crypto industry. In October 2021, her office ordered two "unregistered crypto lending platforms" in the state to shut down.
In February of that year Tether and Bitfinex were forced to cease doing business with New York citizens and companies in a settlement over a long-running investigation brought by the Attorney General's office.
At the time, James announced that "Those trading virtual currencies in New York cannot avoid our laws, period."
