{"id":588931,"date":"2023-08-28T21:02:03","date_gmt":"2023-08-28T18:02:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/sec-charges-podcaster-in-first-unregistered-securities-sales-claim-against-nft-offering\/"},"modified":"2023-08-28T21:02:03","modified_gmt":"2023-08-28T18:02:03","slug":"sec-charges-podcaster-in-first-unregistered-securities-sales-claim-against-nft-offering","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/sec-charges-podcaster-in-first-unregistered-securities-sales-claim-against-nft-offering\/","title":{"rendered":"# SEC charges podcaster in first unregistered securities sales claim against NFT offering"},"content":{"rendered":"<p itemprop=\"description\" class=\"post__lead\" data-v-2649fa34> Impact Theory produces entertainment and educational podcasts and was \u201ctrying to build the next Disney\u201d when it invited investors to purchase its NFTs.  <\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-content\" data-v-2649fa34>The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sec.gov\/news\/press-release\/2023-163\">charged<\/a> a <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">media<\/a> and entertainment company with conducting unregistered securities sales when it sold nonfungible tokens (NFTs) to investors between October and December 2021.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Impact Theory, a Los Angeles-based company that produces entertainment and educational content, including several podcasts, allegedly raised almost $30 million through the sales of NFTs it called Founder\u2019s Keys, which were offered in three tiers. <\/p>\n<p>The company \u201cencouraged potential investors to view the purchase of a Founder\u2019s Key as an investment into the business,\u201d according to the SEC, and:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cImpact Theory emphasized that it was \u2018trying to build the next Disney,\u2019 and, if successful, it would deliver \u2018tremendous value\u2019 to Founder\u2019s Key purchasers.\u201d <\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The SEC found that the NFTs were investment contracts, and so securities, and the company violated the Securities Act of 1933 by selling them without registration. It <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sec.gov\/files\/litigation\/admin\/2023\/33-11226.pdf\">issued<\/a> a cease-and-desist order that Impact Theory has agreed to. <\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Related: Get ready for the feds to start indicting NFT traders<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Under the SEC order, the company was ordered to pay a total of more than $6.1 million in disgorgement, prejudgment interest and a civil penalty, without admitting or denying the agency\u2019s findings. Further, a fund will be created to return money to investors in Founder\u2019s Key NFTs. Impact Theory will destroy all Founder\u2019s Keys in its possession or control, publish a notice of the order on its websites and social media channels, and not receive royalties from future sales of the NFTs on the secondary market.<\/p>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/s3.cointelegraph.com\/uploads\/2023-08\/fa9d660b-4832-4f8f-8d93-fd38d1105282.png\" alt=\"\" title=\"\"><figcaption style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>A Founder&#8217;s Key &#8220;Relentless&#8221; NFT. Source: OpenSea<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>According to NFT Stats, a \u201cLegendary\u201d (top) tier Founder\u2019s Key NFT last <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nft-stats.com\/collection\/impact-theory-founders-key\">sold<\/a> two days ago for $1,468 as one of ten sales in the last week. The token supply is 13, 572, with 4,620 owners. The Founder\u2019s Key is only one suite of NFTs the company offers. They did not respond to a Cointelegraph enquiry by the time of publication. <\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">How it started                  How it\u2019s going <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/REUcdwwY0k\">pic.twitter.com\/REUcdwwY0k<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 ZachXBT (@zachxbt) <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/zachxbt\/status\/1696179530644308419?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 28, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>This was the SEC\u2019s first enforcement action involving an NFT, SEC commissioners Hester Peirce and Mark Uyeda <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sec.gov\/news\/statement\/peirce-uyeda-statement-nft-082823?utm_medium=email&amp;utm_source=govdelivery\">wrote<\/a> in their dissent of the action. \u201cThe NFTs were not shares of a company and did not generate any type of dividend for the purchasers,\u201d they wrote, adding<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cWe share our colleagues\u2019 worry about the type of hype that entices people to spend almost $30 million for NFTs seemingly without having a clear idea about how they will use, enjoy, or profit from them. [\u2026] This legitimate concern, however, is not a sufficient basis to pull the matter into our jurisdiction.\u201d <\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The promises made by Impact Theory and cited in the SEC order \u201care not the kinds of promises that form an investment contract.\u201d The commissioners compared the promises made about the NFTs to statements made by sellers of collectibles. They went on to suggest a list of nine questions the agency should consider before pursuing NFTcases:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cRegardless of what one thinks of the Howey analysis, this matter raises larger questions with which the Commission should gr<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>le before bringing additional NFT cases.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><strong><em>Magazine: Grails\u2019 lucky dip of famous NFT artists, new hope for PFP holders: NFT Collector<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><template data-name=\"subscription_form\" data-type=\"law_decoded\"><\/template><\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News<\/a> articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/general\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">General category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/news\/sec-charges-podcaster-first-unregistered-securities-sales-claim-against-nft-offering\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Impact Theory produces entertainment and educational podcasts and was \u201ctrying to build the next Disney\u201d when it invited investors to purchase its NFTs. The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged a media and entertainment company with conducting unregistered securities sales when it sold nonfungible tokens (NFTs) to investors between October and December&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":588932,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/images.cointelegraph.com\/images\/1200_aHR0cHM6Ly9zMy5jb2ludGVsZWdyYXBoLmNvbS91cGxvYWRzLzIwMjMtMDgvZWY5ZmEwOTMtODNiYy00YmNkLWFkMmItY2FkNzExMTFlZmIyLmpwZw==.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[74898,70934,72287],"class_list":["post-588931","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-sec","tag-regulation","tag-security"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/588931","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=588931"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/588931\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/588932"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=588931"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=588931"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=588931"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}