US market regulators said Monday they for the first time have shut down a digital currency investment scam, charging a company that took millions from investors, "falsely promising" a speedy, 13-fold profit.

The Securities and Exchange Commission's new Cyber Unit filed charges against and froze the assets of Dominic Lacroix, a Canadian with a history of securities law violations, and his company PlexCorps.

The company sold securities called PlexCoin to investors in the US and elsewhere, raising $15 million since August, and promising a return of 1,354 percent within 29 days, the SEC said in a statement.