ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEEDING
File No. 3-21433

May 26, 2023 - The Securities and Exchange Commission announced settled proceedings instituting a collateral industry bar against Michael Ross Kane, the former CEO of The Hydrogen Technology Corporation.

The SEC’s order finds that Kane was also the President, CEO, and Head of Business for Hedgeable, Inc., Hydrogen’s predecessor entity, which was registered with the Commission as an internet investment adviser from 2009 through December 2018, when its registration was terminated.

According to the SEC’s order, on April 20, 2023, a final judgment was entered by consent against Kane, permanently enjoining him from future violations of Sections 5(a) and (c) and 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 (“Securities Act”), and Sections 9(a)(2), 10(b), and 20(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (“Exchange Act”) and Rule 10b-5 thereunder in the SEC’s case entitled Securities and Exchange Commission v. The Hydrogen Technology Co., et al., Civil Action Number 22-cv-08284 (LAK), filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.

According to the SEC’s complaint, Kane played a role, starting in January 2018, in effectuating the unregistered offers and sales of crypto asset securities called “Hydro” and perpetrating a scheme to manipulate the trading volume and price of those securities, which yielded more than $2 million for Hydrogen.

Pursuant to Section 203(f) of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, the SEC’s order bars Kane from association with any broker, dealer, investment adviser, municipal securities dealer, municipal advisor, transfer agent, or nationally recognized statistical rating organization.

The SEC’s investigation was conducted by Sonia G. Torrico and Kathleen Hitchins, and it was supervised by Paul Kim, Joseph Sansone, and Carolyn M. Welshhans. The SEC’s litigation was led by Nick Margida and supervised by James Connor and Olivia Choe.