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SEC Charges Kik With Conducting $100M Unregistered ICO

sec.gov

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Re: SEC Charges Kik With Conducting $100M Unregistered ICO

#2
"The complaint further alleges that Kik marketed the Kin tokens as an investment opportunity. Kik allegedly told investors that rising demand would drive up the value of Kin, and that Kik would undertake crucial work to spur that demand, including by incorporating the tokens into its messaging app, creating a new Kin transaction service, and building a system to reward other companies that adopt Kin. At the time Kik offered and sold the tokens, the SEC alleges these services and systems did not exist and there was nothing to purchase using Kin."

Who even bought this stuff? Doesn't this throw up all the red flags of a scam ICO?

Re: SEC Charges Kik With Conducting $100M Unregistered ICO

#3
While I look forward to the outcome of this, it's worth noting that the SEC has claimed that "airdrops", or simply giving away tokens to others for free, should also be considered securities, as well as "pre-mines", where you mine cryptocurrency before the public receives it. The SEC has an ever expanding view of what it should be responsible for regulating. I cannot understand how issuing a digital asset without receiving any money could fail the Howey Test.

Re: SEC Charges Kik With Conducting $100M Unregistered ICO

#4
post #2

"The complaint further alleges that Kik marketed the Kin tokens as an investment opportunity. Kik allegedly told investors that rising demand would drive up the value of Kin, and that Kik would undertake crucial work to spur that demand, including by incorporating the tokens into its messaging app, creating a new Kin transaction service, and building a system to reward other companies that adopt Kin. At the time Kik…

> scam ICO

It seems like you might of repeated yourself...

This is the cryptocurrency roosters coming home to roost, no?

Re: SEC Charges Kik With Conducting $100M Unregistered ICO

#5
post #3

While I look forward to the outcome of this, it's worth noting that the SEC has claimed that "airdrops", or simply giving away tokens to others for free, should also be considered securities, as well as "pre-mines", where you mine cryptocurrency before the public receives it. The SEC has an ever expanding view of what it should be responsible for regulating. I cannot understand how issuing a digital asset without rec…

You're giving away a security that is still considered a security. That doesn't mean it won't be regulated as a security.

Re: SEC Charges Kik With Conducting $100M Unregistered ICO

#6
post #2

"The complaint further alleges that Kik marketed the Kin tokens as an investment opportunity. Kik allegedly told investors that rising demand would drive up the value of Kin, and that Kik would undertake crucial work to spur that demand, including by incorporating the tokens into its messaging app, creating a new Kin transaction service, and building a system to reward other companies that adopt Kin. At the time Kik…

> scam ICO It seems like you might of repeated yourself... This is the cryptocurrency roosters coming home to roost, no?

Ethereum also had an ICO (paid in Bitcoin) and it delivered. Cosmos held an ICO and delivered. Not all ICOs are scams.

Re: SEC Charges Kik With Conducting $100M Unregistered ICO

#7
post #3

While I look forward to the outcome of this, it's worth noting that the SEC has claimed that "airdrops", or simply giving away tokens to others for free, should also be considered securities, as well as "pre-mines", where you mine cryptocurrency before the public receives it. The SEC has an ever expanding view of what it should be responsible for regulating. I cannot understand how issuing a digital asset without rec…

You're giving away a security that is still considered a security. That doesn't mean it won't be regulated as a security.

Yet Bitcoin and Ethereum are not considered securities by the SEC. So clearly the same sort of asset is considered a security sometimes but not other times, essentially whenever the SEC decides.

Re: SEC Charges Kik With Conducting $100M Unregistered ICO

#8
post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> scam ICO It seems like you might of repeated yourself... This is the cryptocurrency roosters coming home to roost, no?

Ethereum also had an ICO (paid in Bitcoin) and it delivered. Cosmos held an ICO and delivered. Not all ICOs are scams.

I think the point is those are the outliers and the majority are scams.

Re: SEC Charges Kik With Conducting $100M Unregistered ICO

#9
post #2

"The complaint further alleges that Kik marketed the Kin tokens as an investment opportunity. Kik allegedly told investors that rising demand would drive up the value of Kin, and that Kik would undertake crucial work to spur that demand, including by incorporating the tokens into its messaging app, creating a new Kin transaction service, and building a system to reward other companies that adopt Kin. At the time Kik…

People lower their shields when scammy stuff comes from something they trust. Kik has been around for 8 years and was pretty popular at one point, so its long-time users wouldn't notice how much it seems like a desperate moneygrab.

Re: SEC Charges Kik With Conducting $100M Unregistered ICO

#10
post #2

"The complaint further alleges that Kik marketed the Kin tokens as an investment opportunity. Kik allegedly told investors that rising demand would drive up the value of Kin, and that Kik would undertake crucial work to spur that demand, including by incorporating the tokens into its messaging app, creating a new Kin transaction service, and building a system to reward other companies that adopt Kin. At the time Kik…

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