Tennessee has secured a multi-million dollar settlement with GS Partners over alleged deceptive investment schemes involving digital assets and the metaverse. Investors were enticed with tokens and vouchers linked to physical gold, skyscrapers, and virtual staking pools. Now, affected individuals have 90 days to file claims, with promises of refunds for all deposited funds or cryptocurrencies. Authorities are urging investors to prepare for their claims ahead of the November opening.
GS Partners Faces Settlement Over Misleading Metaverse Investments
The Tennessee Department of Commerce & Insurance’s (TDCI) Division of Securities announced on Tuesday Tennessee’s participation in a multi-million dollar settlement with GSB Gold Standard Corporation AG and GSB Gold Standard Bank LTD, also known as “GS Partners.”
The settlement involves Josip Heit, chairman of GS Partners, and other entities under the “GSB Group.” This action follows allegations that the company offered misleading investments tied to digital assets and the metaverse. According to TDCI:
The alleged offerings of investments were tied to digital assets and the metaverse, including the ‘G999 token,’ a digital asset deployed on a proprietary blockchain purportedly tied to physical gold; ‘XLT Vouchers,’ a digital asset purportedly representing ownership interests in a skyscraper; and investments in a so-called ‘staking pool’ in a metaverse known as ‘Lydian World.’
Tennessee investors who deposited funds with GSB or GS Partners will have 90 days to file claims once the process opens in November. The settlement mandates that the respondents refund the full value of all funds or cryptocurrencies invested.
The announcement details:
The settlement requires the respondents to return the full amount of all monies and/or cryptocurrencies invested or deposited with GSB Group, GS Partners and its affiliates, regardless of the product or service purchased from the respondents.
GS Partners and its affiliates claim to have more than 800,000 investors worldwide and over $1 billion in transactions. Tennessee officials urge affected consumers to reach out to the Division of Securities to begin preparing for claims.
The states that have reached a settlement with the GSB Group include Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Texas, and Washington.
What do you think of the GS Partners settlement and the alleged misleading investments tied to digital assets? Let us know in the comments section below.
