Breaking: US SEC Deems $1.7 Billion Telegram Offering Illegal, Orders Halt

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has announced that Telegram and the forthcoming GRM token constitute an unregistered digital token offering.

Per an Oct. 11 press release, the SEC has filed an emergency action and restraining order against Telegram and the Telegram Open Network (TON) in a complaint with Manhattan court.

The allegations

The full complaint alleges that Telegram and TON did not register their sale of GRM tokens, which the SEC considers securities and which, therefore, require registration with the SEC according to the Securities Act of 1933.

According to Stephanie Avakian:

“Our emergency action today is intended to prevent Telegram from flooding the U.S. markets with digital tokens that we allege were unlawfully sold.”

Other SEC actions

Earlier today, Oct. 11, the SEC, together with other U.S. regulatory agencies the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, issued a warning to crypto-asset holders against violations of the Bank Secrecy Act, especially use of crypto in money laundering and terrorism financing.

Two weeks ago, an SEC hearing before the House Financial Services Committee, following which many questions remained as to who would be taking the lead on determining the status of cryptocurrencies, regulators or legislators. At the time, SEC Commissioner Robert J. Jackson Jr. said:

“Is this going to be more of a legislative move or an SEC move? […] At the moment I don’t know.”

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