- Unikrn has settled with the SEC over its $30 million Unikoin Gold ICO in 2017
- The financially cryptocurrency, backed by Ashton Kutcher and Mark Cuban, was accused by the SEC of selling unregulated securities
- Unikrn agreed to pay $6.1 million to settle the case and kill off the Unikoin Gold project
Unikrn, the company behind the UnikoinGold project backed by the likes of Ashton Kutcher and Mark Cuban, has settled with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over its $31 million ICO in 2017. The SEC had charged Unikrn with selling unregulated securities in relation to its Unikoin Gold ICO and Unikrn has done what many projects have done in similar circumstances in recent years and paid up to avoid further action.
Unikoin Gold Sees Global Domination Aims Collapse
Unikoin Gold had ambitions to be the world’s largest esports gaming token, operating as an offshoot of the popular Unikrn betting and esports platform. A precursor to Unikoin Gold, Unikoin, had been in use since 2015, but Unikoin Gold was created two years later to cash in on the crypto boom “give bettors, esports fans and gamers the best-possible experience on Unikrn and partner platforms” according to an update on the Unikrn website posted yesterday.
Unikoin claims that it “over-delivered” on the promises in its whitepaper but that expansion and further development of the token was not possible due to the country’s regulatory landscape:
We invested in the best legal advice we could find and continue to openly work with regulators. Our hands were tied in terms of what we could and couldn’t do without regulator guidance.
Unikoin Gold held an ICO in October of 2017, raising some $31 million, but Unikrn was sued in August 2018 by one investor who claimed the company had called Unikoin Gold a utility token and made out that it wasn’t a security, then promoted it as if it was.
This prompted the SEC to get involved which they duly did, charging Unikrn with offering an unregistered securities – the same charge that has been levelled at dozens of ICOs from 2017-2018. To avoid further sanctions, Unikrn recently agreed to pay the SEC $6.1 million which will be refunded to investors.
Unikrn Not Guilty of Fraud
Unikrn points out in its update that, unlike other less scrupulous ICOs, the SEC did not consider the Unikoin Gold ICO a fraudulent token raise, merely that it transgressed certain rules pertaining to the sale of securities.
The Unikoin Gold token, which hit $2.15 in the 2017 bull run, has been on a road to nowhere ever since, hitting $0.05 within eight months of its high and decreasing ever since, falling to $0.01 before the SEC’s announcement officially killed it off.
