SEC brings its first DeFi case over unregistered digital token sales

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission brought its first case tied to the booming decentralized finance market, alleging a company sold digital tokens that should have been registered with the Wall Street regulator.

The SEC sued Cayman Islands-based Blockchain Credit Partners and two of its top executives for illicitly offering securities through its DeFi Money Market platform from February 2020 to February 2021, according to a Friday statement. The company sold more than $30 million worth of two types of tokens that the SEC considered to be securities, which must be registered with the agency.

“Full and honest disclosure remains the cornerstone of our securities laws — no matter what technologies are used to offer and sell those securities,” SEC Enforcement Director Gurbir Grewal said in the statement.