The Securities and Exchange Commission is proposing to expand the definition of “accredited investor” to include additional entities that could bear the economic risks of investment and certain financially sophisticated persons irrespective of income or wealth. The Commission’s main objective is to identify more effectively institutional and individual investors that have the knowledge and expertise to participate in private capital markets and thus do not need the protections of registration.  If adopted, the proposed expansion…

On September 30, 2019, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced that blockchain developer Block.one had agreed to pay a $24 million fine to settle charges that it had engaged in an unregistered offering of securities in violation of Section 5 of the Securities Act.  The announcement set off a mini-firestorm of criticism in the crypto community because the $24 million penalty seemed disproportionately small relative to the $4 billion it raised in its ICO and relative…

On October 11, 2019, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”) announced it filed a complaint and obtained a temporary restraining order against Telegram Group Inc. and its wholly-owned subsidiary TON Issuer Inc. (collectively, “Telegram”) relating to Telegram’s offering of tokens without registration in violation of the Federal securities laws. The action sends a strong signal that the Commission is paying close attention to SAFT-based digital token offerings and is willing to go to court…

On July 10, 2019, the Securities and Exchange Commission declared Blockstack PBC’s offering statement “qualified”, thus allowing Blockstack to commence the distribution and sale of its Stacks Tokens under Regulation A. This is the first offering of digital tokens to be qualified by the Commission under Regulation A, a significant milestone for the blockchain industry which raised billions of dollars in 2016-2018 in unregistered non-exempt initial coin offerings before the Commission threw down the gauntlet…

Non-accredited investors are estimated to constitute approximately 92% of the U.S. population. Yet restrictive rules governing exempt offerings have significantly limited their freedom to invest in private offerings and prevented or discouraged issuers from selling them privately offered securities. But in a recently issued concept release, the Securities and Exchange Commission has signaled a willingness to approach the issue in a much more creative way, suggesting the possibility of expanded opportunities for companies to…

The Securities and Exchange Commission filed a complaint last week against the founder of venture-backed mobile payments startup Jumio, Inc., charging him with causing the company to prepare false and misleading financial statements that inflated the company’s earnings and gross margins and with defrauding secondary market purchasers of his shares. The founder, Daniel Mattes, agreed to pay more than $16 million in disgorgement and prejudgment interest plus a $640,000 penalty and to be barred from…