SEC flags Bitcoin miner hosting services as subject to securities laws
In a lawsuit, the SEC says some hosted Bitcoin mining services could trigger US securities laws, but an industry executive says most providers have nothing to worry about.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission has flagged in a lawsuit that third-party Bitcoin mining hosting services can be a securities offering, a position strongly opposed by one industry executive.
The SEC sued the Bitcoin (BTC) mining company VBit and its founder, Danh Vo, in a Delaware federal court on Wednesday, accusing them of fraud and misappropriating around $48 million in investor funds between 2018 and 2022 by selling a greater number of hosting agreements than there were mining rigs.
“VBit’s Hosting Agreements are investment contracts and therefore securities,” the SEC claimed, arguing that VBit’s investment contracts meet the criteria of the securities-defining Howey test.
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