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Federal Judge Rules that Kik’s 2017 Token Sale Violated US Securities Law

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3 Monaten ago

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Before October 20, the parties have to file either a joint proposal for Kik’s investors, or a document with a proposal on how to proceed.

On Wednesday, a US federal judge ruled that Canadian social media and messaging app company Kik violated U.S. securities law back in 2017 when it raised $100 million via a token sale.

Alvin Hellerstein, a U.S. district judge for the Southern District of New York, said:

“Kik concedes that its issuance of Kin through the TDE involved an investment of money by which participants purchased or acquired Ether and exchanged Ether for Kin. Thus, the parties agree that the first element of the Howey test is satisfied. The parties dispute whether the second and third elements are satisfied. I hold that they are.”

According to Judge Hellerstein, Kik “extolled Kin’s profit-making potential,” satisfying one of the prongs, and “pooled proceeds from its sales of Kin in an effort to create an infrastructure for Kin, and thus boost the value of the investment.”

In response to the ruling, Kik CEO Ted Livingston stated:

“To be clear, Kik has always supported the Commission’s goal of protecting investors, and we take compliance seriously. In preparing for the sale of Kin, Kik retained sophisticated counsel (both in the United States and internationally) to analyze the law as we understood it, and we continue to believe that the public sale of Kin was that of a functional currency and not a sale of securities”.

Besides, Livingston promised the ruling would not have any impact on Kin token.

The Roots of the Legal Battle

It all started back in 2017 when Kik conducted an initial coin offering (ICO) for Kin tokens. As a result of the ICO, the company raised nearly $100 million. However, SEC called Kik token sale illegal. Besides, they claimed that Kik was selling their Kin tokens without registration for taxation.

In response, Kik claimed that its public offering was not a securities sale. Kik CEO Ted Livingston said that they have been preparing for such a situation. And to figure everything out, the company started preparing for the legal trial.

In September 2019, some stated Kik was shutting down because of the inability to battle against the SEC. However, Ted Livingston promised to do the best to allow the company to continue its existence.

Kik general counsel Eileen Lyon said:

“The SEC should engage in proper rulemaking, including the opportunity for public commentary, rather than force our industry to hunt for regulatory clues among the SEC’s conflicting statements, Commissioner and staff speeches, no-action letters, closed-door meetings with the SEC and nonprecedential settlements.”

Before October 20, the parties have to file either a joint proposal for Kik’s investors, or a document with a proposal on how to proceed.

Business News, Cryptocurrency news, News, Startups, Token Sales

Daria is an economic student interested in the development of modern technologies. She is eager to know as much as possible about cryptos as she believes they can change our view on finance and the world in general.



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RIOT Stock Registers Unprecedented Rally, Riot Blockchain Valuation Soars Above $1B

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11 Minuten ago

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Dezember 29, 2020

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Following the Bitcoin all-time high on Sunday, December 27, Riot Blockchain stock registered 20% gains on Monday’s trading session. The stock has already appreciated by 13x this year. Apart from BTC, investors of Bitcoin mining companies are making a bomb in the market.

Bitcoin mining giant Riot Blockchain is making all the news in the market at the moment. On Monday, December 28, Riot Blockchain Inc (NASDAQ: RIOT) stock price surged a massive 20% surging past $15.5 levels. One of the biggest milestones with the Monday rally is that the Riot Blockchain has clocked a $1 billion market cap.

The latest price rally comes as Riot Blockchain hints at going aggressively on its Bitcoin mining business. Last week, the Riot Blockchain added new S19 Pro Antimers to its bitcoin mining arsenal. The company announced the purchase of an additional 15,000 Bitcoin (BTC) mining machines from Bitmain. The recent purchase also pushes Riot’s total fleet to 37,640 Next-Generation Bitmain Antminers.

Riot said that the fresh purchase of Antminers will help the mining company to attain a 65% jump in its mining hash-rate. RIOT stock has registered an unprecedented rally this year in 2020. RIOT stock has multiplied by 13x this year registering a 1200% surge so far.

Riot Blockchain has issued nearly 17 million shares since November 2020 with its total outstanding shares going to 67.5 million. It has been a phenomenal journey for Riot ever since it ventured into the Bitcoin mining business in October 2017. With valuations less than $50 million back then, Riot has grown more than 20x in size as of its latest stock price.

RIOT Stock and Shares of Other Bitcoin Mining Companies Profit from BTC Bull Run

The recent Bitcoin (BTC) price rally during Q4 2020 has also pushed the stocks of Bitcoin mining companies to new highs. Earlier on Sunday, December 28, the BTC price hit its all-time high of $28,000 in a massive bull run followed by huge institutional inflows.

Moreover, along with the BTC price rally, the Bitcoin hash-rate has jumped significantly since November 2020. Over the last two months, the BTC hash-rate has surged nearly 30% and is currently at 132 TH/s. The surge in the hash-rate suggests higher mining activity for Bitcoin.

As a result, Bitcoin mining companies have been making massive purchases of the BTC mining machines. In addition to Riot Blockchain, other giants like the Marathon Patent Group have made aggressive purchases over the last few months. Just like RIOT, the Marathon Patent Group (NASDAQ: MARA) has registered a phenomenal rally of 18% on Monday, December 28. MARA stock has multiplied investors’ wealth by 12x in 2020. It means the MARA stock has also given phenomenal 1100% returns year-to-date.

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Bhushan is a FinTech enthusiast and holds a good flair in understanding financial markets. His interest in economics and finance draw his attention towards the new emerging Blockchain Technology and Cryptocurrency markets. He is continuously in a learning process and keeps himself motivated by sharing his acquired knowledge. In free time he reads thriller fictions novels and sometimes explore his culinary skills.



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How low could XRP go? Watch these price levels next

Published

6 Stunden ago

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Dezember 29, 2020

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XRP price dropped by 30% on Dec. 29 following Coinbase’s decision to suspend trading. 

The market sentiment around XRP has become overwhelmingly negative due to the fear of more exchange delistings.

In the near term, XRP faces three key historical support levels at $0.224, $0.1743 and $0.1471.

Where will the XRP price go next?

The ongoing price trend of XRP is not cyclical nor reliant on technical analysis. It is due to investors selling XRP following the suspension of trading across major cryptocurrency exchanges.

On Dec. 29, Coinbase announced that it is suspending the XRP trading pairs on their platform. Paul Grewal, the chief legal officer at Coinbase, wrote:

“In light of the SEC’s lawsuit against Ripple Labs, Inc, we have made the decision to suspend the XRP trading pairs on our platform. Trading will move into limit only starting December 28, 2020 at 2:30 PM PST, and will be fully suspended on Tuesday, January 19, 2021 at 10 a.m. Pacific Standard Time*. We will provide additional updates, if any, through the Coinbase Support Twitter account, including if there are any changes to timing.”

As Cointelegraph previously reported, analysts anticipated Coinbase to suspend XRP trading after the United States Securities and Exchange Commission filed its complaint.

Coinbase plans to undergo an initial public offering, and it is in the firm’s best interest to remain fully compliant with the regulators in the U.S.

Considering the regulatory uncertainty around XRP, traders have emphasized that technical analysis is of less importance in the short term. Scott Melker, a cryptocurrency trader, said:

“A few people have told me that there’s oversold bullish divergence on the $XRP chart. You are doing it wrong. Charts don’t matter here. You cannot trade in a vacuum. Jesus could come down with Biggie and Tupac and put on a concert for Brad Garlinghouse and I still wouldn’t buy.”

In the foreseeable future, XRP has several major support areas it could potentially recover from. However, these are deep support levels on the weekly chart, which shows that it lacks momentum for a major rebound.

XRP/USD weekly candle price chart (Coinbase). Source: TradingView.com

The XRP price has fallen by over 60% in merely two weeks, recording one of its steepest two-week drops in history.

What happens next?

Adam Cochran, a partner at Cinneamhain Ventures, was one of the first to break the story that Coinbase had conversations about suspending XRP trading.

Cochran hinted that the SEC are probably looking into more projects and companies than people realize. He said:

“If you thought my scoop on Coinbase delisting/suspending $XRP was insightful, you’re going to love the next scoop I’m working on, this week. Looks like that SEC is far more active than we thought and sniffing around a number of projects and companies!”