The US Securities and Exchanges Commission (SEC) has suspended trading in Cynk Technology after shares in the little-known social networking firm surged more than 23,000% in the past month.

Documents showed the firm - which is registered in Nevada with an office in Belize City, Belize - had no revenue and one employee.

Shares in Cynk were traded in a lightly regulated "over the counter" exchange.

The SEC halted trading until 24 July.

"It appears to the SEC that the public interest and the protection of investors require a suspension of trading in the securities of Cynk Technology Corp ("Cynk") because of concerns regarding the accuracy and adequacy of information in the marketplace and potentially manipulative transactions in Cynk's common stock," wrote the SEC in its order suspending trading in the firm.

Earlier on Friday, another US regulator - the Financial Industry Regulation Authority (Finra) - had halted trading in Cynk under its "extraordinary event halt" code.

Shares in Cynk jumped from six cents in early June to $13.90 (£8.11) on Thursday, despite uncertainty about its business and revenue structure. That values places the firm at a valuation of close to $4bn - just slightly above the valuation of airline JetBlue.

Cynk billed itself as a "development stage" company and the firm's main website - introbiz.com - is described as a marketplace where one "may both buy and sell the ability to socially connect to individuals such as celebrities, business owners, and talented IT professionals".

(BBC)