Cryptocurrency

September 15, 2020

Online gaming and gambling platform Unikm, Inc. agreed to pay a $6.1 million penalty to resolve allegations that the company unlawfully sold unregistered securities in its initial coin offering of “UnikoinGold” (UKG) tokens.  The recovered funds will be used to repay injured investors.  SEC

June 26, 2020

Telegram Group Inc. and its subsidiary TON Issuer Inc. will return more than $1.2 billion to investors and pay a $18.5 million civil penalty to resolve SEC charges that it conducted an unlawful unregistered offering of its digital tokens called “Grams.” The SEC alleged that the Grams were securities sold by defendants in order to raise capital to finance for their own business, which included the development of their own blockchain and a mobile messenger application.  SEC

May 28, 2020

Blockchain company BitClave PTE Ltd agreed to pay disgorgement, penalties, and interest totaling $29.7 million to resolve charges arising from its 2017 unregistered initial coin offering of digital tokens it called Consumer Activity Tokens (CATs).  The CATs were investment contracts, with proceeds of the ICO used to fund the development of BitClave’s blockchain-based search platform for consumer advertising, which BitClave offered and sold to the general public as providing the opportunity for future profits arising from the efforts of BitClave and its agents.  SEC

November 14, 2019

Veritaseum, Inc. and Veritaseum, LLC, together with their owner Reginald Middleton, agreed to pay $9.5 million to resolve claims of fraudulent conduct in their VERI Initial Coin Offering. Defendants were alleged to have misrepresented the potential profitability and viability of Veritaseum's purported operations, the use of funds raised in the VERI ICO, and the amount of funds raised in the VERI ICO.  Middleton was further alleged to have engaged in conduct to manipulate the price of VERI.  Defendants will disgorge $7.9 million in gains, plus interest, and Middleton will pay a $1 million civil penalty.  SEC

October 2, 2019

PlexCorps and its principals Dominic Lacroix and Sabrina Paradis-Royer have agreed to pay nearly $7 million to resolve charges related to their unregistered initial coin offering PlexCoin, and their false and misleading statements regarding PlexCoin, the amount of funds raised by PlexCoin, the use of funds raised in the ICO, and the size and scale of PlexCoin operations.  The SEC had obtained an emergency freeze on the ICO in 2017, and defendants will disgorge over $4.5 million in retained investor funds, plus interest; in addition, the individuals will each pay a $1 million penalty.  Defendants are enjoined from further violations, and the individuals are enjoined from participating in any digital-securities offerings.  SEC

September 30, 2019

Longfin Corporation has been ordered to pay $6.8 million in a default judgment entered in a federal court case alleging that Longfin filed fraudulent papers to qualify for a public offering under Regulation A+, misrepresenting the business as being based in the U.S.  In addition, Longfin reported fictitious revenue from sham commodities transactions and unlawfully distributed Longfin shares, including in unregistered transactions and to insiders and affiliates.  SEC

June 6, 2019

The SEC has filed a federal court action against Kik Interactive, Inc. The company, which previously offered an online messaging application, raised more than $100 million through the sale of "Kin" tokens, an unregistered digital asset.  Kik marketed the Kin cryptocurrency as an investment which would trade on secondary markets, and which Kik would incorporate in its messaging platform, creating a Kin transaction network both on and off the messaging platform.  According to the SEC's complaint, these Kik platforms did not, in fact, exist.  Kik did not comply with securities registration requirements in offering the Kin tokens for sale, and the SEC alleges that in failing to do so, Kik violated Section 5 of the Securities Act of 1933.  SEC