SEC Charges Gig Economy Platform for $2.6 Million Unregistered Coin Offering – The Securities and Exchange Commission of the United States has charged Thor Technologies, its co-founder and CEO David Chin and Matthew Moravec, co-founder and former CTO, with carrying out an unregistered offering of securities through an initial coin offering (ICO).
The SEC’s complaint alleges that Chin and his company sold “Thor tokens” to the general public to seek money for a startup that was meant to develop a software platform for “gig economy” workers and firms. The regulator specifies that digital assets were advertised as investment opportunities. It was advertised that their value may improve and that they will be featured on cryptocurrency trading platforms.
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At the time of the offering, according to the SEC, no development activity had occurred on the Thor platform and tokens could not be used elsewhere. Moreover, the transaction, which raised $2.6 million in fiat and cryptocurrencies from investors, was neither registered with the SEC nor qualified for an exemption. The complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California against Thor and Chin. The Commission seeks injunctive remedies, the restoration of allegedly ill-gotten gains with interest and civil penalties.
According to a second lawsuit, Matthew Moravec participated in the unregistered token offering and sale. He has consented to a settlement with the SEC and the entry of a judgment requiring him to disgorge $407,103 plus prejudgment interest of $72,209.45 and pay a civil penalty of $95,000. Moravec will also be banned from taking part in crypto asset offerings for a period of three years.
The announcement comes after SEC Chairman Gary Gensler stressed the necessity of bringing issuers of crypto securities tokens into compliance earlier this month. “Nothing about the crypto markets is incompatible with the securities laws,” Gensler insisted while highlighting the risks associated with what he views as a “largely noncompliant market.”
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