SEC He accused John Joseph Roats and companies controlled by him of offering $16.5 million in unregistered securities. ICO and subsequent token sales.

The regulator claims that in 2017, Rotes, Dragonchain Inc, Dragonchain Foundation, and Dragon Company conducted an unregistered Dragon Coin Offering (DRGN) in two phases:

• pre-sale in August for investment club members;
• Public offering in October-November.

According to the lawsuit, the defendants raised $14 million from approximately 5,000 investors worldwide, including the United States, as a result of the ICO.

From 2019 to 2022, Roets and its companies sold another $2.5 million in DRGN. Funds were raised to “cover operating expenses and further develop and market Dragonchain technology.” Some of the sales came after the SEC classified the tokens as securities.

The commission asked the defendants for injunctive relief, interest-bearing compensation and fines for investors.

DRGN price peaked at $5.11 in January 2018 (CoinMarketCap). At the time of writing, the coin is trading at $0.02. The asset has a market cap of $8.5 million, with a daily trading volume of $235,115.

“While Dragonchain is a zombie coin from 2017, situations like this allow the SEC to set a precedent that can be used to regulate the wider field. So it’s not just about this token,” said Bill Hughes, ConsenSys Senior Advisor on the case.

Although Dragonchain is the 2017 zombie coin, these cases allow the SEC to develop precedent that can be used to regulate the wider field. So this isn’t really about this particular token. https://t.co/WyRTHdR4Ie

— wchughes.eth 🦊 (@BillHughesDC) 16 August 2022

Recall that in 2021 the SEC opposed the creation of a “safe haven” that would protect ICO projects from the accountability of the Commission.

The idea of ​​introducing a three-year regulatory holiday for startups selling tokens in 2020 was proposed by SEC Commissioner Hester Pierce.

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