In a recent court ruling, a US District Judge has sided with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in its case against the now-defunct cryptocurrency wallet provider, Rivetz, which allegedly sold unregistered securities. The court's decision, made without proceeding to trial, was based on evidence presented.
Judge Mark Mastroianni ordered the SEC to confer with Rivetz's CEO, Steven Sprague, to file a proposed judgment for injunctive and monetary relief by October 22, 2024. The SEC initially filed the action against Rivetz in 2021, claiming that the company had conducted an $18 million initial coin offering (ICO) in 2017 without proper registration. The SEC's filing stated that Sprague had personally promoted the ICO in the US despite being aware that no registration statement had been filed beforehand. This ruling is the latest in a series of actions taken by the SEC against cryptocurrency companies, including a recent ruling against Ripple, which was ordered to pay $125 million for violating federal securities laws.
The SEC has also taken enforcement actions against other major cryptocurrency exchanges, such as Coinbase and Binance, for allegedly violating securities laws.