Quick take:
- The alleged charges relate to “offers and sales” of more than $70 million in unregistered MNGO tokens on a platform operated by the two entities.
- The two affiliated entities are also charged for acting as unregistered brokers, according to a press release.
- Without consenting to or denying allegations, the two Mango Labs and Blockworks Foundation agreed to settle with the SEC for $700,000 in civil penalties.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed a settlement for securities violation charges with Mango DAO (a decentralised autonomous organisation) and Blockworks Foundation ( an organisation registered in Panama).
The settlement relates to allegations that starting in August 2021, both entities raised more than $70 million from the sale of unregistered MNGO tokens, Mango DAO’s supposed governance token of the Mango Markets Platform to hundreds of investors worldwide including the U.S.
The two affiliated entities were also separately charged for acting as unregistered brokers, according to a press release published by the US securities regulator.
The brokerage allegations include actively soliciting and recruiting users of Mango Markets to trade securities; providing advice and valuations as to the merits of an investment in securities; and helping to facilitate securities transactions on the Mango Markets platform by assisting customers in opening accounts and regularly handling customer funds and securities.
Commenting on the release, Jorge G. Tenreiro, Acting Chief of the Crypto Assets and Cyber Unit said in a statement: “Since the inception of our crypto enforcement program, our view has been that the label ‘DAO’ does not change the reality of who is behind a project, what activities they engage in, or whether their activities need to be registered. Nor does engaging in intermediation of securities with the aid of automated or open source software change the nature of such activities.”
“If you engage in securities-intermediary functions, you must register or be exempt from doing so, regardless of the technology employed and the type of legal entity used,” he added.
Without accepting or denying the allegations, the two entities agreed to collectively pay nearly $700,000 in civil penalties. This is more than triple the $223,228 reported as potential settlement fees a month ago.
Mango DAO and Blocworks Foundation also agreed to destroy their MNGO tokens and request the removal of MNGO tokens from trading platforms. They also agreed to refrain from soliciting any trading platform to allow trading in, offering or selling MNGO.
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