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"When EF Hutton speaks, people listen … and make coins."
This is the phrase that EF Hutton is using in his last return attempt, this time as a fintech company that trades in everyone's favorite cript – cryptocurrency.
The company that uses the 114-year-old brokerage name plans to launch MeggaCoin on October 1 in an attempt to raise $ 60 million for its parent company, HUTN Inc.
As for many crypts there outside, it's hard to understand how it will work exactly. Users will pay a one-time fee of $ 5 to create an EF Hutton account, so they will receive MeggaCoins for the time they spend using a variety of MeggaLife social media apps. If users deposit 20 million coins, they can redeem them for cash held by MeggaTrust, "an independent trust supervised by independent third-party trustees," according to a press release. MeggaTrust in turn generates advertising revenue from social media apps.
"MeggaCoin has the potential to transform lives," EF Hutton CEO Chris Daniels said in a statement. "Everyone now has a choice: either put your data to large social media companies for free or use MeggaLife to extract MeggaCoin and collect all the value of your social data and online social activities."
The trustees allegedly include "the former head of the administration of social security under President Obama". Oh, and the "double g" in Megga is because the products are "double good".
Woof.
There is much to be accepted, especially from a society that once was one of the largest and most respected mediations in the country.
After Citigroup sold the ownership of the brand in 2008, a group of EF Hutton alumni led by Frank Campanale tried to resurrect the brand in 2012. Mr. Campanale abandoned these plans just 18 months later in favor of trying to revive Lebenthal & Co.
Mr. Campanale could not be reached for comment.
The brand became public in 2014, traded on OTC markets. According to its website, HUTN is the parent company of EF Hutton Inc., which offers digital, fee-free and option trading, and EF Hutton Investments LLC, an investment advisory firm. There is also Vibrant Mobility, a "provider of mobile communications services" and Megga.
The latest incarnation of the brand is attempting to join a cryptocracy that is showing serious signs of fatigue, with the price of the bitcoin down by two thirds from its peak. Gone are the days when penny stocks that rebranded to any crypt saw double or triple prices. Last month ICO collected the minimum amount since May 2017 and half of all ICOs have gone bankrupt after only four months.
The HUTN shares have closed up by 7 cents to 77 cents on Tuesday in counter operations. The stock has an average of 61 cents in the last year and trades on average 3,000 shares a day.
The announcement by EF Hutton was the third of the company this month following the release of its plans to launch a cryptographic exchange and subscription-based research. EF Hutton has "insights and special experiences in the cryptocurrency market," said the latest press release, citing research and a social media app for mining coins. The link provided to the search did not work.
EF Hutton is attempting his MeggaCoin plan while regulators are blocking cryptocurrency schemes. Last week, FINRA instructed a former broker to distribute "HempCoin" as a means of attracting investment into his public company. The SEC also charged a cryptocurrency hedge fund for violating the securities law.
If someone is still listening to EF Hutton, it might be a good time to stop.
This story includes reporting from Bloomberg News.
