EOS' parent company, Block.one, has reached a $24 million settlement agreement with the SEC.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced on Monday that EOS manufacturer Block.One must pay $24 million for conducting an unregistered initial coin offering (ICO).

According to a press release by the SEC on 9/30, it has settled charges against the company behind the EOS network and its corresponding token in the form of civil penalties. The release states that Block.one's ICO began shortly before the SEC released its DAO investigation report and continued for nearly a year after the report, raising nearly $4.2 billion during that time.

The SEC alleges that Block.One did not register its ICO as a securities offering in accordance with U.S. federal securities laws, and therefore was not qualified or seeking an exemption. Stephanie Avakian, Co-Director of the SEC's Enforcement Division, stated:

Many U.S. investors participated in Block.one's ICO. Companies that offer or sell securities to investors must comply with the securities laws, irrespective of the industry they operate in or the labels they place on the investment products they offer.

Avakian further added that Block.One also failed to provide necessary information to ICO investors:

When investors are not provided with the information they need to make informed investment decisions, the SEC will continue to take enforcement action.

According to Block.One's own press release, the terms of the settlement apply only to the original sale of ERC-20 tokens.

Importantly, Block.One's statement mentions that their ERC-20 tokens are no longer in circulation, therefore they no longer needed to register those tokens as securities with the SEC.

Further Reading

• Bitwise presents three arguments to the SEC and states, "The market is ready for a Bitcoin ETF"
• Analysis firm ICO Rating fined by the U.S. SEC for violating the anti-touting rule

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