The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) on Friday issued letters demanding five companies and their officers, directors, and employees cease and desist from making false and misleading statements about FDIC deposit insurance and take immediate corrective action to address these false or misleading statements.

The targeted companies are: FTX US, SmartAsset.com, Cryptonews.com, Cryptosec.info, and FDICCrypto.com.

Based upon evidence collected by the FDIC, each of these companies made false representations—including on their websites and social media accounts—stating or suggesting that certain crypto–related products are FDIC–insured or that stocks held in brokerage accounts are FDIC–insured.

In one case, a company offering a so–called cryptocurrency also registered a domain name that suggests affiliation with or endorsement by the FDIC. These representations are false and misleading.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Act (FDI Act) prohibits any person from representing or implying that an uninsured product is FDIC–insured or from knowingly misrepresenting the extent and manner of deposit insurance. The FDI Act further prohibits companies from implying that their products are FDIC–insured by using “FDIC” in the company’s name, advertisements, or other documents. The FDIC is authorized by the FDI Act to enforce this prohibition against any person.

FDIC deposit insurance protects customers in the unlikely event of the failure of an FDIC–insured bank.