The SEC has taken steps to repay investors affected by the BitClave ICO.
BitClave agreed to make this payment in 2020 as part of a settlement with the SEC over allegations that it did not register its search engine as a securities offering.
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission confirmed on November 20 that it disbursed $4.6 million in reparations to investors who participated in BitClave’s ICO, which was based on Ethereum.
The payment results from a settlement made in 2020 after the SEC charged BitClave for failing to register its 2017 ICO as a securities offering.
“The checks are in the mail. We are sending out more than $4.6M to investors harmed by BitClave, PTE Ltd.’s unregistered ICO of digital asset securities. After a notice & claims process, investors will now be receiving their share of the BitClave Fair Fund,” the SEC said in a post on the X platform.
In 2020, BitClave agreed to repay nearly 9,500 investors who took part in its $25.5 million ICO three years ago.
Without admitting guilt, BitClave consented to return the $25.5 million raised from its ICO and pay about $4 million in additional fines.
The SEC issued distributions on November 20 from the payments held in an escrow account called the Fair Fund.
In 2017, BitClave rolled out the Consumer Activity Token (CAT), which the SEC claimed qualified as a securities offering because investors expected its value to increase.
CAT’s white paper said that “as more service providers join, the number of CATs required for an equivalent service will gradually decrease, corresponding to a CAT value increase,” according to a 2020 SEC filing.
As part of the agreement, BitClave committed to burning 1 billion unused CAT tokens and requesting delistings from exchanges.
The SEC, under President Joe Biden’s leadership, has taken a strong regulatory position on crypto, filing upwards of 100 actions against companies within the industry.
Donald Trump, who was President-elect in July, promised to terminate Gary Gensler’s role as the head of the SEC.
Trump has made it clear that he wants to transform America into “the crypto capital of the world.”
Gurbir Grewal, who led the SEC’s enforcement division, announced his resignation on October 2.
As per a report, Trump is evaluating the possibility of creating a new White House post dedicated entirely to cryptocurrency policy, which would be the first crypto-specific post ever created.
