Cryptocurrency

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

March 11, 2019

Marshall Islands-based 1pool Ltd. and its chief executive officer and owner, Patrick Brunner, will pay $990,000 to resolve a CFTC action alleging that they illegally offered retail commodity transactions that were margined in bitcoin, failed to register as a futures commission merchant (FCM), and failed to have required anti-money laundering procedures in place. The settlement payment consists of a $175,000 civil monetary penalty, disgorgement of $246,000 in gains, and restitution of approximately $570,000 to U.S. customers.  CFTC

November 29, 2018

Professional boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. and music producer DJ Khaled have settled SEC charges that they promoted initial coin offerings (ICOs) by Centra Tech Inc. without making required disclosures about payments they received from Centra Tech.  Mayweather agreed to pay disgorgement, penalties, and interest totaling $614,775, and Khaled agreed to pay a total of $152,725. SEC

November 16, 2018

CarrierEQ Inc. (Airfox) and Paragon Coin Inc. have agreed to pay civil penalties of $250,000 each to resolve charges that they conducted initial coin offerings (ICOs) in 2017 without registering the ICOs pursuant to federal securities laws.  Airfox's offering had raised $15 million and Paragon had raised $12 million.  The companies also agreed to provide compensation to harmed investors and to register their tokens as securities.  SEC

November 8, 2018

Zachary Coburn, the founder of EtherDelta, a digital "token" trading platform, settled SEC charges that the platform operated as an unregistered exchange.  Over an 18-month period, EtherDelta's users executed more than 3.6 million orders for ERC20 tokens, including tokens that are securities under the federal securities laws.  Because it was functioning as an online national securities exchange, EtherDelta was required to register with the SEC or qualify for an exemption.  Coburn consented to the order and agreed to pay $300,000 in disgorgement plus $13,000 in prejudgment interest and a $75,000 penalty.  SEC