What You Need to Know
- The case turns on “whether the digital asset at issue is or is not a security,” lawyer Nicolas Morgan says.
- LBRY received more than $11 million in U.S. dollars, Bitcoin and services from purchasers.
- The SEC says LBRY’s tokens are securities.
The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged LBRY, a New Hampshire-based blockchain company, with conducting an unregistered offering of digital asset securities.
According to the SEC’s complaint, from at least July 2016 to February 2021, LBRY, which offers a video sharing application, sold digital asset securities called “LBRY Credits” to numerous investors, including investors based in the U.S.
The SEC’s complaint, filed in the federal district court in New Hampshire, alleges that LBRY did not file a registration statement for the offering, and that the offering failed to satisfy any exemption from registration.
As alleged, LBRY received more than $11 million in U.S. dollars, Bitcoin, and services from purchasers who participated in its offering.