U.S. District Judge Rules in Favor of SEC in Rivetz ICO Case
A United States District Judge has ruled in favor of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in a case against the mobile crypto wallet Rivetz, which the regulator accused of selling unregistered securities, according to a court document released Monday.
Judge Mark Mastroianni granted the SEC’s motion for summary judgment, which is a decision made based on the presented evidence without the need for a trial. “The SEC shall confer with Sprague [Steven Sprague, CEO of Rivetz] and file a proposed judgment for injunctive and monetary relief on or before October 22, 2024,” Mastroianni said. Sprague has until November 5, 2024, to submit any objections to the proposed judgment.
The SEC originally filed the case against the now-defunct crypto company in 2021, alleging that Rivetz violated the Securities Act by conducting an $18 million initial coin offering (ICO) for the Rivetz token in 2017 without registering the offering. ICOs are used by crypto companies to raise funds for early-stage projects by offering token incentives. The SEC stated that Sprague promoted the ICO in the U.S., fully aware that no registration statement had been filed prior to the offering.
In recent years, the SEC has taken legal action against several crypto firms. Notably, in August, a federal judge ordered Ripple to pay $125 million for violating federal securities laws during its XRP sales to institutional clients, though this amount was significantly less than the $2 billion initially sought by the SEC. Additionally, the SEC has pursued enforcement actions against major crypto exchanges such as Coinbase and Binance for alleged violations of securities laws, with courts siding with the SEC in those cases as well.
