Regulators, stop bothering! Unwilling to waste time and money, Tezos settles a three-year lawsuit with $25 million.

The long-running legal battle involving Tezos (XTZ) that has lasted for nearly three years may be coming to an end soon. According to a report by Cointelegraph, a class-action lawsuit filed by the law firm Block & Leviton is expected to settle for $25 million during a hearing on August 27.

Tezos No Longer Willing to Waste Time

Tezos raised $232 million in bitcoins and ethers within just a few days during its ICO in July 2017. The lawsuit dates back to October of the same year when Block&Leviton initiated an investigation against Tezos ICO for not registering with the SEC, leading to a lawsuit filed against Tezos in December.

Initially, the SEC rejected the plaintiff's request in early 2018, stating that the release of such a judgment could hinder any future enforcement actions. As of now, no charges have been brought against the main organizers of the Tezos ICO.

However, in August 2018, the court refused to dismiss the case against Tezos, pushing the lawsuit into the following year. As a result, the Tezos Foundation actively sought a settlement in March of this year to resolve this long and costly legal battle.

$25 Million Settlement with SEC

According to a report from May, the court has preliminarily approved a $25 million settlement in the Tezos ICO class-action lawsuit. However, Tezos does not believe there is any violation of regulations, as stated by the Foundation:

The Tezos Foundation chose to settle all claims. We believe that settling all outstanding lawsuits is in the best interest of the Tezos project and the overall community. These lawsuits are baseless, and the one-time cost of settling is far less than the time and legal expenses that would be incurred in court proceedings.

In addition to resolving the lawsuit, the $25 million settlement may prevent the SEC from taking any further enforcement actions in the future. Quentin Herbrecht, CEO of blockchain marketing platform Markchain, also shared a similar view:

Tezos agreed to settle this fine to prevent the SEC from redefining its ICO as an illegal securities offering, which could have a devastating impact on the project. I sincerely believe that if the agreement is accepted, it is a more favorable way for the Foundation and the Tezos team, especially considering that the Tezos team currently holds assets worth over $635 million.

As reported previously, Tezos not only has considerable flexibility in asset allocation but also adopted a more conservative investment strategy in January compared to its previous portfolio, cleverly avoiding the Black Swan event in March and thereby avoiding losses of tens of millions of dollars.

Despite working to resolve the nearly three-year lawsuit, the Tezos Foundation still maintains that its 2017 ICO did not violate any regulations and emphasizes:

The Tezos Foundation does not believe it has done anything wrong and will not admit to any wrongdoing in the settlement process.