SEC sues Russian firm for selling unregistered tokens

According to a press release from a government agency, ICObox conducted an ICO worth $650 million.failing to comply with SEC registration requirements. Moreover, the company acted as an unregistered broker, raising $14.6 million from the sale of its own ICO tokens.

The SEC filed a federal complaint against ICObox and its founder Nikolai Evdokimov for illegal activities. Michelle Wayne Lane, Director of the Los Angeles Regional Office, said:

Ignoring the requirements of federal laws on valuablesecurities, ICOBox and Evdokimov encouraged investors to invest, which now have virtually no value, hiding information that is crucial for making informed investment decisions.

Since 2017, ICOBox has held a number ofICOs, including INS, Universa, Play2Live, Crypterium, Patron, Storiqa, Paragon, Tokenstars, CrowdGenie, SocialMedia.Market, Native Video Box and others. Since the SEC classifies all token sales as unregistered, it is expected that the regulator will get to blockchain projects.

In addition to companies associated with ICOs, the SEC alsopursues platforms that have made the majority of sales or mislead investors. The regulator recently fined ICOrating.com, a rating agency, for providing “paid ICO reviews” on its website.

However, ICOBox continues to implement itsactivity. The company recently added an STO (Token-Securities Offer) listing, which can be classified as registered securities. ICObox intends to challenge the SEC claims in court, as the Kik and Veritaseum projects have already tried in similar precedents.