SEC appoints admin to BitClave fair fund
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has issued an order appointing an administrator to the BitClave fair fund.
The order issued on April 22, 2021, appoints Kurtzman Carlson Consultants (“KCC”) as the fund administrator and set the administrator’s bond at $10 million.
Let’s recall that, on May 28, 2020, the Commission imposed a Cease-and-Desist Order against BitClave PTE, Ltd. In the Order, the SEC found that from June 2017 through November 2017, BitClave offered and sold securities in the form of digital tokens, known as Consumer Activity Tokens (CAT), to fund the development of a blockchain-based search platform for targeted consumer advertising. As a part of this process, BitClave conducted an initial coin offering (“ICO” or the “Offering”) in which it raised approximately $25.5 million through the issuance of CAT.
By their conduct, the Commission found that Respondent violated Sections 5(a) and 5(c) of the Securities Act by failing to file a registration statement as to the Offering of CAT, and sold CAT to thousands of investors. The Commission ordered the Respondent to pay a total of $29,344,197.00 in disgorgement, prejudgment interest, and civil money penalties to the Commission, pursuant to a payment plan detailed therein.
The Commission also created a Fair Fund, pursuant to Section 308(a) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, so the penalty, along with the disgorgement and interest, can be distributed to harmed investors (the “Fair Fund”).
The Fair Fund includes the $10 million paid by the Respondent, and any additional funds paid pursuant to the Order will be added to the Fair Fund.