The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged Thor Technologies and its co-founders with making an unregistered securities offering. In 2018, the company minted and sold tokens to raise funds for its ‘gig economy platform’, the development of which had not even begun at the time.

US Securities Regulator Accuses Thor Technologies Management of Conducting Unregistered ICO

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission has commissioned Thor Technologies, its co-founder and CEO David Chin and Matthew Moravec, co-founder and former CTO, to make an unregistered securities offering via an initial coin offering (ICO).

Chin and his company are accused of selling ‘Thor tokens’ to the general public to attract funds for the business that was supposed to build a software platform for ‘gig economy’ workers and companies, complaint reveals of the SEC.

The regulator details that digital assets were marketed as an investment opportunity. The sale was promoted with the possible increase in their value and claims that they would be listed on cryptocurrency trading platforms.

The SEC alleges that, at the time of the offering, no development work had yet been done on the Thor platform and that the tokens could not be used elsewhere. Additionally, the sale, which raised $2.6 million in fiat and cryptocurrency from investors, was not filed with the SEC and also did not qualify for the exemption.

The lawsuit against Thor and Chin was filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of California. The Commission seeks injunctive relief, the return of allegedly ill-gotten proceeds plus pre-trial interest and civil penalties.

A second complaint alleges that Matthew Moravec also participated in the offer and sale of unregistered tokens. He has agreed to settle with the SEC and to enter a judgment ordering him to return $407,103, plus pre-judgment interest of $72,209.45, and pay a civil penalty of $95,000. Moravec will also be banned from participating in crypto asset offerings for a period of three years.

The announcement comes after SEC Chairman Gary Gensler earlier this month emphasized on the importance of making crypto security token issuers compliant. “Nothing about the crypto markets is inconsistent with securities laws,” Gensler insisted while highlighting the risks associated with what he sees as a “largely non-compliant market.”

What do you think about the SEC charges against Thor Technologies and similar cases in the US? Tell us in the comments section below.

Lubomir Tassev

Lubomir Tassev is a tech-savvy Eastern European journalist who likes Hitchens’ quote: “Being a writer is who I am, more than what I do.” In addition to crypto, blockchain and fintech, international politics and economics are two other sources of inspiration.