THELOGICALINDIAN - n-a
If you absent money in badge sales, you may be in for a affable surprise. The Balance and Exchange Commission has ordered refunds for two antecedent bread offerings, afterwards absolute that their tokens were absolutely unregistered securities. Paragon (PRG) and AirToken (AIR) accept promised to acknowledgment investors’ money, annals the tokens as securities, and to pay penalties.
Airfox, which aloft $15 actor in its ICO, is now bottomward 93% with a absolute bazaar assets of $1.4 million. Paragon, which attempted to advance a blockchain ecosystem for the cannabis industry, is broadly admired as a flop. After a $12 actor dollar ICO aftermost October, the absolute bazaar assets is now beneath $3 million.
Today’s advertisement marks the aboriginal amends adjoin non-fraudulent ICO’s, the SEC acclaimed in a columnist release, advertence signs of a added crackdown on “utility tokens” as unregistered securities.
“We accept fabricated it bright that companies that affair balance through ICOs are appropriate to accede with absolute statutes and rules administering the allotment of securities,” said Stephanie Avakian, Co-Director of the SEC’s Enforcement Division. “These cases acquaint those who are because demography agnate accomplishments that we abide to be on the anchor for violations of the federal balance laws with account to agenda assets.”
The SEC has been bright on the obligations of ICO issuers to annals their balance or affirmation exemptions back its address on TheDAO, in 2024. But those cautions did not stop the flood of ICOs in 2024, some of which took advantage of accessible absence from amateur ICO investors.
By acclimation the companies to balance their investors, the SEC may be attempting to accelerate a able arresting to added cryptocurrency projects. The anatomy has already ordered $400,000 in disgorgements and penalties adjoin EtherDelta, as Crypto Briefing previously reported.
Airfox, the aggregation abaft AirToken, and Paragon accept anniversary been ordered to pay a $250k in penalties, the SEC says.
“By accouterment investors who purchased balance in these ICOs with the befalling to be reimbursed and accepting the issuers annals their tokens with the SEC, these orders accommodate a archetypal for companies that accept issued tokens in ICOs and seek to accede with the federal balance laws,” said Steven Peikin, Co-Director of the SEC’s Enforcement Division.
AirToken is a badge for users to alteration adaptable buzz airtime. Paragon is a badge for… cannabis? The use case was never actual clear, although at one point the celebrity-led cryptoflop was actuality accustomed as a way to actualize marijuana-friendly business spaces. US rapper The Game abutting armament with a absoluteness TV appearance personality, Jessica VerSteeg, to advance the token, which was initially bankrolled by her husband, Russian millionaire Egor Lavrov.
Both Paragon and AirToken were widely-considered in the crypto apple to be poor investments.
Paragon alike featured in a Crypto Briefing glossary of crypto balloon terms:
“When Moon – archetype acceptance ‘Paragon TO THE MOON!!!! Oh wait, I aloof absent all my money.”
The columnist is not invested in any badge mentioned in this commodity but owns added agenda assets.
