By Scott Galbraith
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently leveled accusations against Thor Technologies’ co-founders. The agency claims that the 2018 Thor’s initial coin offering amounts to a securities sale. The firm raised over $2.5 million from about 1,400 investors, half of them were Americans.
The SEC Says Thor Co-Founders Violated Three Securities Laws
Matthew Moravec and David Chin, the co-founders of Thor Technologies, face three securities-related charges. The first charge involves the firm’s failure to register Thor with the SEC, while the second accuses Thor of marketing its tokens as an investment.
The Commission says Thor’s whitepaper indicates that the firm expects the tokens to increase in value as the network grows. Also, the token usage will drive its demand considering their scarcity in a limited pool of available supply.
The third securities laws violation is the firm’s failure to register the offer and sale of its tokens with the SEC. According to the Commission’s filing, Thor did not file a registration statement concerning the offering or selling of its tokens. Additionally, no registration statement related to any sales or offers of those tokens has been in effect.
Other offenses include a lack of disclosures on Thor’s financial situation, the firm’s ability to make profits, and additional vital information that would help investors decide if they want to invest.
The SEC hopes the court finds the two defendants guilty of unjust enrichment and orders them to pay civil monetary penalties. In addition, the Commission seeks to permanently ban Thor’s co-founders from offering and selling securities as digital assets.
The SEC Doubles Down Efforts to Regulate the Crypto Industry
Recently, Gary Gensler, the SEC chair, announced the agency’s campaign to sanitize the crypto industry by bringing to book all bad actors. Meanwhile, the Commission has filed numerous court cases and shows no signs of stopping its campaign.
The recent case of charging Sam Bankman-Fried for defrauding FTX investors and the Commission’s calls for public firms to disclose their exposure to digital currencies have been praised by various experts as a step in the right direction.