SEC partially wins $600000 IC0 lawsuit against blockchain company Opporty

According to Cointelegraph, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has achieved partial victory in a lawsuit against blockchain company Opporty International and its owners. The SEC accuses Opporty International and its owners of engaging in fraudulent IC0, which involves selling securities in the form of encrypted tokens to the public without registration. In a ruling on September 24th, US District Judge Eric Komitee ruled that the SEC has fully demonstrated its claim that Opporty and its owner Sergii Grybniak illegally sold unregistered securities in the United States. This determination is based on the Howey test standard, which is used to determine whether a transaction constitutes an investment contract under securities law. The judge believes that the "OPP" token sold by Opporty meets the definition of an investment contract and therefore needs to be registered with the SEC. However, the SEC's victory is not comprehensive. Grybniak argued in his defense that Reg D/S exemptions can be granted if the transaction does not involve a public offering and the purchaser is a qualified investor or the transaction occurs outside the United States. Although the judge acknowledges the reasonableness of this exemption, he believes that Opporty and Grybniak have not fully demonstrated that they meet the exemption criteria, as they have made "targeted sales efforts" in the United States, which are considered part of a public offering. Opporty's IC0 campaign was conducted between September 2017 and October 2018, raising a total of $600000 in funding and involving nearly 200 investors from the United States and overseas. The SEC believes that Opporty violated relevant regulations by not registering sales.