The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have reached an agreement with blockchain startup Enigma over the sale of their ENG token during an initial coin offering (ICO) in 2017. The SEC claimed the Enigma ICO – which raised around $45 million – represented an unregistered offering of securities.
As part of settlement, Enigma have agreed to register their tokens as securities and file periodic reports in addition to paying a $500,000 penalty. The company have also conceded to return funds to any investors who feel aggrieved via a claims process.
Looking Forward
Enigma, who are working towards providing a decentralised privacy solution for computations on smart contracts and public blockchains, consented to the SEC order without admitting or denying its findings.
A recent post from the company suggests that “This settlement clears the way for our development team to focus fully on our original and continued vision.” Enigma confirmed they were “…thrilled to have the opportunity to put this process in the rearview mirror….”
Such sentiments are understandable, especially as the Enigma ICO had also been problematic in 2017 due to the company’s website and some associated social accounts being compromised by hackers. By redirecting potential investors, the perpetrators managed to net around $500,000 in ETH contributions.
With the ICO issues now behind them, Enigma were quick to announce the launch of their proof-of-stake mainnet based on Cosmos SDK/Tendermint using a new native coin called Secret (SCRT).
In an overall choppy cryptocurrency market, the news of the SEC settlement corresponded with the ENG token experiencing a price decline in a 24 hour period of $0.10 to be currently trading at around $0.34.
