SEC to Distribute $4.6M to Investors in BitClave ICO

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced on Wednesday that it will be distributing $4.6 million in reparations to investors who participated in BitClave’s Ethereum-based search engine ICO. The agency stated that after a notice and claims process, investors will finally be receiving their share of the BitClave Fair Fund.

In 2017, during the ICO craze, BitClave raised $25.5 million from 9,500 investors, with the offering selling out impressively in just 32 seconds. However, in 2020, BitClave had to settle with the SEC after facing charges for not registering its ICO as a securities offering.

As part of the settlement, BitClave agreed to return the $25.5 million raised and pay $3.4 million in prejudgment interest, a $400,000 fine, and destroy 1 billion uncirculated CAT tokens. The company also committed to delisting from exchanges.

Following this, the SEC mandated the creation of a Fair Fund by BitClave to facilitate the return of funds to investors. The deadline for investors to file claims is August 2023, with notifications on claim statuses sent out in March of this year.

BitClave has pledged to contribute approximately $29 million to the SEC’s compensation fund, but as of February 2023, only $12 million has been contributed, according to the latest SEC document addressing the BitClave Fair Fund.