According to an official press release, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has settled charges against blockchain company Block.one, the parent company for EOS tokens, and has ordered the company to pay $24 million as a fine for conducting an unregistered initial coin offering (ICO) between June 2017 and June 2018.
The press release notes that Block.one successfully raised “several billion dollars” throughout the ICO period, declaring that the received funds would be channeled into general expenses, software development and blockchain promotion as well. The company reportedly sold 900 million tokens.
Steven Peikin, the Co-Director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement, suggested that the SEC had to swing into action due to the company’s violation of expected codes of conduct. According to Peikin:
“Block.one did not provide ICO investors the information they were entitled to as participants in a securities offering. The SEC remains committed to bringing enforcement cases when investors are deprived of material information they need to make informed investment decisions.”
Furthermore, the SEC claims that Block.one did not comply with federal securities laws by registering the ICO as a securities offering and also did not seek out or qualify for a possible exemption from the stipulated steps it should have undergone. Block.one has however agreed to pay the $24 million but neither confirmed nor denied the findings.
Just last week, the company published an announcement that it will be opening its U.S. operations headquarters in Washington D.C.
Image Credits: Pixabay
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