Telegram’s Courtroom Saga With the SEC Comes to a $1.2 Billion End

Published at: June 26, 2020

On June 26, Judge Kevin Castel signed the final judgment in the SEC v. Telegram case, which will require Telegram pay back $1.2 billion to investors in their ICO for the failed Telegram Open Network. 

Cointelegraph reported on the final judgment proposed yesterday. What has changed is the approval of the court, putting an end to a legal drama that began with the SEC ordering a stop to Telegram’s impending distribution of GRAM tokens. 

Per the SEC’s announcement on today’s approval:

“New and innovative businesses are welcome to participate in our capital markets but they cannot do so in violation of the registration requirements of the federal securities laws.”

How exactly Telegram or any other potential ICO issuer could appease the SEC at this point remains an open and much-discussed question.

Tags
Sec
Law
Related Posts
It looks like the SEC isn't done with trading app Abra just yet
Back in July, the Securities and Exchange Commission alongside the Commodity Futures Trading Commission fined investment app Abra for providing trading on synthetic assets. At the time, that looked like the end of the matter. However, in response to Cointelegraph’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for details in the Abra case, the SEC cited FOIA exemption 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(7)(A) — an exemption that only applies to ongoing investigations. The exemption applies to situations where releasing information could “reasonably be expected to interfere with enforcement proceedings.” The SEC’s response does not provide details into the ongoing investigation, and was careful …
Regulation / Oct. 1, 2020
Law Decoded: All Roads Lead to New York, June 19-26
Every Friday, Law Decoded delivers analysis on the week’s critical stories in the realms of policy, regulation and law. Editor’s note The largest city in the United States and the world’s financial capital for most of the past century, New York City is also used to playing a starring role in the worlds of art, music, literature and film. What with all the attention, the Big Apple sometimes gets a big head. But this week, it’s also earned the spotlight as the stage for a marathon of fintech law dramas. Given New York City’s status, it’s not uncommon for Americans …
Regulation / June 26, 2020
SEC’s Cryptomom Peirce Believes US Capital Markets Can ‘Transform People’s Lives’
In a July 7 fireside chat courtesy of Unitize, Commissioner Hester Peirce of the Securities and Exchange Commission continued to advocate for regulatory clarity for crypto as a means of opening up capital markets to innovation. Innovation and regulation “I believe in the power of our capital markets to transform people’s lives,” said Peirce. “I wanted to make sure that our regulatory structure was flexible enough to accommodate innovation.” She noted that the the size of the U.S. economy makes its regulations critical to global fundraising: “The race to the bottom is something we should be concerned about. But that’s …
Regulation / July 7, 2020
SEC’s Cryptomom Talks New Rule Changes and Meaning for Crypto With Cointelegraph
As one of five commissioners of the United States Securities Exchange Commission, Hester Peirce is at the forefront of securities regulation in the country today. Of interest to Cointelegraph’s readers, her positivity toward the future of cryptocurrencies has earned her the moniker “Crypto Mom.” Backdropped by recent efforts to update exemptions from security offering registration, as well as an ongoing tug-of-war with legislators as to how to handle crypto, Commissioner Peirce sat down with Cointelegraph to discuss recent changes in regulatory approach and what to look for in the next. New exemptions On Dec. 18, the SEC announced a series …
United States / Dec. 29, 2019
How the Democratic Party didn’t stop worrying and fearing crypto in 2021
As 2022 is kicking off, America nears the first anniversary of Joe Biden’s presidency. Following the tenure’s ambitious start, the last few months witnessed some serious tumult around the overall health of the United States economy, the administration’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the tense debate around Biden’s opus magnum — the $1.7 trillion Build Back Better infrastructure legislation plan. But even as the Democrats’ ability to maintain undivided power after the 2022 midterm elections can raise doubts, the party’s prevailing view of crypto has become more consolidated than ever. The incumbent president’s party will be setting the tone …
Regulation / Jan. 1, 2022