The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has ordered a blockchain company BitClave PTE Ltd. to return $25 million to investors over an unregistered initial coin offering (ICO).
The SEC claims BitClave raised investments by selling its Consumer Activity Tokens (CAT) to approximately 9,500 investors.
BitClave reportedly planned to use the ICO proceeds to develop, administer, and market a blockchain-based search platform for targeted consumer advertising.
SEC Enforcement Division’s Cyber Unit Chief Kristina Littman says issuers of securities, traditional or digital, must comply with the registration requirements of the federal securities laws.
"The remedies ordered by the Commission will provide meaningful relief to investors in this unregistered offering," Littman added.
The SEC’s order finds that BitClave violated the registration provisions of the federal securities laws, an official press release said.
iHodl earlier reported that the SEC delayed its decision to approve or reject tZERO's proposal to launch a security token exchange.
The regulator decided to put off its final decision in order to study user comments.
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