Shares in Iced-Tea-Maker-Turned-Blockchain-Firm Delisted by SEC

Long Blockchain Corporation, the former beverage company whose sudden pivot to crypto captured Wall Street's attention (and Nasdaq's ire) during the 2017 bull run had its shares delisted by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Monday after failing to file financial documents.

In an administrative order the SEC revoked registration of Long Blockchain's shares, eliminating the possibility of trading shares in the one-time tea maker by U.S. investors. That ability had already been severely restricted by Nasdaq's February 2018 decision to delist the New York company for allegedly misleading investors.

The order ends a public markets saga that lives on as a textbook example of opportunistic rebranding. When the company formerly known as Long Island Iced Tea Corp. rechristened itself "Long Blockchain Corporation" in December 2017, investors responded by pouring into its shares, spiking the value by over 500%.

Never mind that Long Blockchain Corp. initiated its rebranding without explaining exactly how it would embrace blockchain technology or move away from summertime beverages. A subsequent effort to buy bitcoin miners was abandoned in less than a month, setting the stage for Nasdaq to nix trading and relegating LBCC to the over-the-counter markets.

"Its blockchain business never became operational," SEC said in the Monday order.