SEC Shuts Down Munchee ICO (techcrunch.com) 43
The Securities and Exchange Commission has shut down Munchee, a company that built a $15 million token sale. According to TechCrunch, "The Munchee ICO aimed to fund the MUN coin, a payment system for restaurant reviews." However, the company "received a cease and desist from the SEC on December 11" because it constituted the offer and sale of unregistered securities. From the report: Within the SECs findings they noted that Munchee touted itself as a "utility" token which means that the company believed the MUN token would be primarily used within the Munchee ecosystem and not be used to fund operations. However, thanks to an application of the Howey Test (a Supreme Court finding that essentially states that any instrument with the expectation of return is an investment vehicle), the SEC found the Munchee was actually releasing a security masquerading as a utility. "Munchee offered MUN tokens in order to raise capital to build a profitable enterprise," read the SEC notice. "Munchee said that it would use the offering proceeds to run its business, including hiring people to develop its product, promoting the Munchee App, and ensuring 'the smooth operation of the MUN token ecosystem.'" The stickiest part? Munchee claimed that its coins would increase in value thanks to a convoluted process of growth.
In short, Munchee was undone by two things: depending on the token sale as a vehicle to raise cash for operations and using the typically spammy and scammy marketing efforts most ICO floggers use now, tactics taken directly from affiliate marketing handbooks. Fortunately, Munchee was able to return all $15 million to the 40 investors that dumped their coins into scheme.
In short, Munchee was undone by two things: depending on the token sale as a vehicle to raise cash for operations and using the typically spammy and scammy marketing efforts most ICO floggers use now, tactics taken directly from affiliate marketing handbooks. Fortunately, Munchee was able to return all $15 million to the 40 investors that dumped their coins into scheme.
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Darn (Score:2)
Now I can't get the MUNCHEEs. The FCC is such a buzzkill.
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This is SEC, not FCC. With FCC, you get some Pai.
Tulip farmers outraged (Score:1)
"But if you tell them it's a bubble and worth nothing, we'll go broke!"
SEC will shutdown bitcoin soon! (Score:4, Funny)
SEC will shutdown bitcoin soon!
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Re: SEC will shutdown bitcoin soon! (Score:2)
You prevent the companies that offer/back the securities on the regulated market. But of course, they wonâ(TM)t do anything about the off the counter trading.
I thought SEC would restrict Bitcoin but CBOE shows otherwise. As far as I can tell that partially vindicated Bitcoin as a legal US security.
Re: Who the hell are the investors? (Score:2)
I too am surprised that the SEC wasted tax funds on 40 investors. Unusual. Wouldnâ(TM)t be surprised if one of them used his connections to right a mistaken investment decision.
Regardng bitcoin bubble (Score:4, Interesting)
I'm starting to think that bitcoin can't pop (I'm not a bitcoin fan - check my posting history). The reason I say this is because the 4/transactions per second prevent an actual run starting on the commodity we call bitcoin.
In order to have the bubble pop you need large number of sell-offs. With the miniscule rate of transactions it might not be possible for the bubble to pop spectacularly - it might simple deflate gently instead.
Re:Regardng bitcoin bubble (Score:5, Insightful)
I've had thoughts like this too. The inherent flaws in the system might be enough to prevent a Wylie E. Coyote crash and burn. But again even if the bubble does simply deflate the result will still be the same. Millions will still be lost, it will just be drawn out and more painful.
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In order to have the bubble pop you need large number of sell-offs.
The price doesn't drop because people "take their money out." The price drops because no one will buy it at that price.
So for example, if you buy a tulip bulb at a price of $1million, then suddenly no one will pay more than $10 for a tulip bulb, everyone with that kind of tulip bulb will lose their money. The bubble doesn't shrink, it shatters, and the money was already gone (into the pockets of those who sold before the bubble popped).
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Not 100% sure of this, but imagine only one tulip bulb can be sold per week. We wouldn't know what price people are unwilling to buy it at, because by the time they did (or didn't) buy it the price would have changed.
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To discover the price you need active buying and selling, which you can't do if the transactions are slow.
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You might not be able to do actual bitcoin transactions quicky, but you can trade inside the exchanges (until they collapse).
Re: Regardng bitcoin bubble (Score:1)
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This doesn't matter though. The majority of trading happens at the exchanges. Most people keep there money there to buy and sell quickly so no movement of bitcoin is needed.
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This fuckhead and his affiliate link again
Deceptively cheap at $200 then one must purchase 15 PCIe 1 adapters for the 15 GPU cards your going to need.
The bundle includes a Celeron Desktop Processor which isn't up to the task. At best entry level for the likes of a facebook user.
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From what I've read, GPUs are for wimps, and real cryptocurrency miners use ASICs
https://shop.bitmain.com/antmi... [bitmain.com]
(Of course, that could just be hype, though the look at a real Crypto Farm [digiconomist.net] suggests that whole buildings of ASICs are used, rather than a few GPUs)
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Real cryptocurrency miners aren't fussy - as long as it belongs to someone else.
Should have started a OTC company (Score:2)
and use forward looking statements to sell billions of shares and SEC would do fuck all even if all the shareholders lost their lifes savings.