Blockchain start-up ATBCoin was struck by a class-action lawsuit, which makes it the most recent in a series of projects to be sued by shareholders after Initial coin offering (ICOs).

ATBCoin Hit with Class-Action Lawsuit

Filed on 21st December 2017 at the Southern District of New York, the Litigation (PDF) alleges that ATBCoin and its operators violated the Securities Act by running a security without enrolling with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The lawsuit stated. The ATB ICO was a clear Sale and offer of all securities as a Consequence, Inter alia Defendants touted, and Plaintiff and other ATB ICO investors fairly anticipated, the ATB lien received in exchange for their trades are worth over the ETH, BTC, LTC, or alternative currencies invested. In addition, as discussed herein, Defendants have specifically known to the ATB ICO participants and “investors” and repeatedly stressed over the profit possible from holding ATB Coins.

Interestingly, the Lawsuit also Asserts that Herbert Hoover one of ATBCoin’s co-founders claimed he’s a descendant of the both U.S. President Herbert Clark Hoover and the Hoover family that founded the Hoover Company.
These claims are impossible as these two trees are not linked. Additionally, it is evident in a video of Defendant Hoover clearly studying his own “biography” with an accent, so it seems highly improbable that Defendant Hoover is that he claims to be,” the lawsuit said.

Apparently, the developers saw the lawsuit coming. Just 3 days before the lawsuit was filed, ATBCoin published a statement on their own blog asserting that it didn’t accept investment capital from American taxpayers
The post stated we want to remind you that by the very beginning of this project; ATB Coin never approved investment capital from American taxpayers. All users of this platform accepted the stipulations of our offer and consented to the purpose that they’re not inhabitants of the USA. This condition is compulsory when enrolling atbcoin.com.

ATBCoin also stated it doesn’t run financial actions in the U.S., but its site lists its primary speech as a co-working area found in the Trump Tower in New York City.

ICO Investors Face Regret, Declining Coin Values

According to an estimation from ICO tracker CoinSchedule, the ATBCoin token sale increased $20.4 million value of Bitcoin, ether, and litecoin throughout its ICO, which was conducted from June through September.
However, the value of ATBCoin cost has dropped from a high of $1.52 shortly following the ICO to less than $0.48 at the time of writing, even as the worth of the coins used to contribute to the ICO has surged.

Consequently, it had been the situation with Tezos, investors have started to repent leading to the ICO and have sought to recover their capital by using a court rule that the crowdsale violated SEC regulations. So far, no court has ruled on these suits, though SEC Chairman Jay Clayton has said that most ICOs he’s observed ought to be registered as securities offerings.

Source: http://www.unkrypted.com/class-action-law-suit-strikes-atbcoin/

Author's Bio: 

Ricky Makan is a venture capitalist and Crypto Enthusiast best known for pioneering the market for Digital Marketing. He is a Co-founder of Unkrypted, a platform which provides the latest news and information that helps understand everything about the ever-evolving world of digital currencies. He is been fascinated by Blockchain technology since the first time he heard about it in 2013