SEC Wants to Slash $22M Fine on Crypto Firm LBRY for Violating Securities Law to $111K

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) wants to revise a $22 million penalty set on crypto startup LBRY to $111,614, according to court documents from Friday.

The regulator cited LBRY's "lack of funds and near-defunct status," as reasons for withdrawing its previous request for fine.

In March last year, the SEC sued LBRY on allegations that the sale of its native LBRY credits (LBC) violated federal securities laws. In November, a New Hampshire judge ruled the startup had violated securities laws by failing to register with the SEC.

Jeremy Kauffman, LBRY's founder has previously said this case could impact the wider crypto industry as the company maintained that LBC was not a security. Ripple Labs has a similar defense as it faces SEC charges for the sale of $1.3 billion in XRP tokens.

The SEC's request to remedy the penalty also argued LBRY should be "enjoined," at least until it carries out its plans to dissolve the company and burn LBC tokens. The company had previously argued the SEC's $22 million penalty was unwarranted, comparing the sum to the regulator's $5 million settlement in its case against Kik over a $100 million unregistered token sale.

Edited by Parikshit Mishra.

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Sandali Handagama

Sandali Handagama is CoinDesk's deputy managing editor for policy and regulations, EMEA. She does not own any crypto.

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SEC Seeks to Slash $22M Fine on Crypto Firm LBRY to $111K

A U.S. judge ruled in November that the crypto startup had violated securities laws by selling its native LBC token without registering with the SEC.

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