The company Block.one, the owner of EOS, you must pay to the Securities and exchange Commission of America (SEC) a fine of USD 24 million for having conducted, between 2017 and 2018, an initial offering of coins (ICO) not registered. The amount to be paid is established between the parties then reach an agreement civil.De according to information of the SEC, posted on its official website on this 30th of September, Block.one, with operations in Virginia and Hong Kong, during the period of a year he made an ICO that is not registered as a securities offering. It is considered, therefore, that the process was not effected in accordance with the provisions of the federal securities laws of the united States. The agency alleges that the company neither called nor requested an exemption from the registration requirements.The document of the SEC explains that through the offer was raised several billions of dollars in digital assets worldwide, including a portion coming from u.s. investors.In that sense, the co-director of the Enforcement Division of the SEC, Stephanie Avakian, recalled that “the companies that offer or sell securities to u.s. investors must comply with the securities laws, regardless of the industry in which they operate or the labels that put the investment products they offer”.The investigation of the case, conducted by a team of the Unit’s Cyber SEC and the Regional Office in New York, determined that the ICO began shortly before the government agency should publish the Research Report DAO, continuing for almost a year after its publication. In this report, published in July of 2017, and platform-based DAO of Slock.it, the SEC said that the tokens issued in the initial offerings of coins would be taken as securities and are therefore regulated in that category.The SEC added that through the event offered some 900 million tokens to the investors. This, “without giving them the information that they were entitled to as participants in a securities offering”, said the co-director of the Enforcement Division of the SEC, Steven Peikin. The order issued Monday also determines that Block.one stated that it would use the capital raised in the ICO, both for general expenses, like to develop software and promote platforms blockchains.
Block.one agree to pay the fine
Block.one, for his part, spoke about the subject in his corporate blog. Through a press release informs that it will proceed to pay the fine “without admitting or denying the findings of the SEC”. Notes that the sanction relates to the sale of a token ERC-20, out of circulation, which took place between the 26th of June 2017 and 1 June 2018.
The agreement relates specifically to the token CKD-20 sold in the chain of blocks Ethereum during the period mentioned, which is no longer in circulation or marketed, so it is not required that the token register as a value in the SEC. The agreement resolves all ongoing matters between the Block.one and the SEC.Block.one
According to the company, the SEC granted an exemption to important to to order that is not subject to the restrictions of continuous generally apply to agreements of this type. A fact that, in his judgment, evidence of their commitment to compliance and best practices in the U.S. and around the world.The company also expressed its interest in resolving these discussions, and its intention to collaborate with policy-makers and regulators, “as the world continues to develop more clarity on the frames of performance for the cryptocurrencies”.