ROSEAU, Dominica, CMC – Dominica’s Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit Monday brushed aside suggestions that the island could come under severe scrutiny after the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged the founder of the blockchain company, TRON, Justin Sun with fraud and securities violations.
Skerrit told a news conference that young Dominicans should instead explore the opportunities made available through the crypto-currency sector and that neither he nor his government could be held responsible for people’s behavior after they had been legitimately in touch with his administration.
“We in Dominica have to move away from this attitude that we c believe could bring Dominica down; we are celebrating it,” he said, adding, “there is no government involvement in this whatsoever.”
Roseau had recently entered into an agreement with TRON in what had been described as “the highest level of cooperation between such an enterprise and a sovereign state.”
Skerrit insisted that there is no “regret at all” in a meeting with Sun, adding, “we signed an MOU, and that was it.
“There is no regret or disappointment…what somebody is involved in their past or future years has no bearing on us. Some Dominicans go to the United States, receive a Green Card, and get deported back to Dominica because they find themselves in difficulties with the law.
“I mean, do you blame the Green Card system…or the citizenship process of America, or do you blame us. No, everyone must stand on their own two feet, and we are not questioning what the SEC has done.”
Last week, in a statement, the SEC unveiled charges against Sun for fraud and securities violations and that it was also charging three companies owned by Sun, “Tron Foundation Limited, BitTorrent Foundation Ltd., and Rainberry Inc. (formerly BitTorrent), for the unregistered offer and sale of crypto asset securities Tronix (TRX) and BitTorrent (BTT).”
“The SEC also charged Sun and his companies with fraudulently manipulating the secondary market for TRX through extensive wash trading, which involves the simultaneous or near-simultaneous purchase and sale of a security to make it appear actively traded without an actual change in beneficial ownership, and for orchestrating a scheme to pay celebrities to tout TRX and BTT without disclosing their compensation,” the statement said.
Skerrit told reporters that the issue of bitcoin, cryptocurrency, “is a global phenomenon now” and because it is now regulated by central banks yet” there is an issue of proper regulation.
“But this is a global phenomenon, and I think it is important that countries like ours, we are to look at the opportunities that these things could provide for our young…people looking for opportunities for higher pay and for better standards of living for themselves.”
He said Dominica can ill-afford to allow the global community to run away with the crypto-currency sector, “and then we are trying to try 20 years later to do what many countries have done.
“It is a matter I have been raising within the Caribbean Community for many years now that we need to explore this thing…so when it comes to a point where central banks in various parts of the world have decided to provide oversight and regulation, we are fully knowledgeable”.
Skerrit said he had met many young people both here and overseas engaged in the crypto-currency sector in one way or another, adding, “I am saying we need to inform, educate ourselves about these things.”
“What are the opportunities, what are the downsides, what are the upsides of those things so that we have education…and this is what we are saying,” he told reporters.
SEC’s charges were filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York last week. It alleged that Sun engaged in fraud by manipulating the trading activity of the two tokens, creating the appearance of active trading when it did not exist.
Regarding the actions of the SEC, Skerrit said, “it has nothing to do with us.
“All I know is that…it is not a criminal charge, it is an infraction of their standards and regulation, and they may impose a financial charge on you. You do not have to plead guilty, and it does not determine your guilt or innocence, and many banks in America have been fined by the SEC for regulations they have violated,” Skerrit added.
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