The United States-based Blockchain Association has filed an amicus curiae brief in support of Canadian messenger Kik amid the firm’s legal battle with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The association addressed the April 17 brief to the court which is considering the case, asking it to deny the SEC’s motion for summary judgment and decide the case narrowly to avoid casting doubt on cryptocurrency projects that have yet to appear before the court. In March, the SEC requested summary judgment, claiming that it possessed “undisputed evidence” that Kik’s ICO distributed unlicensed securities. Not the same as Telegram’s case Basically, the …
U.S. District Judge Alvin Kellerstein has sided with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), ruling that the Canadian technology firm Kik’s $100 million initial coin offering (ICO) violated federal securities laws. On September 30, Judge Kellerstein responded to both parties’ requests for summary judgment, determining that Kik’s 2017 token sale meets the definition of a securities issuance according to the Howey test, as the ICO participants had a reasonable expectation of profit. “In public statements and at public events promoting Kin, Kik extolled Kin’s profit-making potential. Kik’s CEO explained the role of supply and demand in driving the value …
Most days, there is little love lost between the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and the world of crypto. As the regulator of the world’s largest capital market, the commission’s continuing work to track down sales for tokens it considers unregistered securities has left a fair bit of the crypto market viewing the commission like a boogeyman. Which is not fair. There are controversial cases, but the ICO boom was rampant with predation, fraud and theft: Exactly the sort of issues you keep a regulator around to stamp out. Right now, though, the SEC is faced with a wide …
In her July 21 speech for Blockchain Week Singapore, Securities and Exchange Commissioner Hester Peirce, known among the industry as ‘CryptoMom,’ spoke out on her opposition to the SEC’s recently concluded suit against Telegram. SEC action against Telegram served neither investors nor mission Peirce’s speech, entitled “Not Braking and Breaking,” emphasized the roles and responsibilities of regulators regarding innovation, particularly in the light of the case against Telegram that came to an end in June. Telegram had sold $1.7 billion in contracts for GRAM tokens, which would be the native token of the Telegram Open Network. As preface, the commissioner …
A new round of documents have been filed in the lengthy dispute between the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, and Kik Interactive Inc. over the messaging company’s 2017 initial coin offering, or ICO. Both parties are seeking summary judgment, with the SEC submitting a proposed order that it hopes the court will sign. However, Kik is confident that the judge will rule in its favor, asserting that the SEC’s argument rests heavily on construing the Telegram case as precedent. SEC proposes summary judgment order The SEC filed a proposed order on May 8 outlining its request for …