4.1 KiB
LBRY SEC Case Guide and FAQ
Summary
The Securities and Exchange Commission has filed a civil case against LBRY Inc. alleging that all distributions of LBRY Credits by LBRY Inc. are unregistered securities offerings. This claim is both devoid of fact and a tremendous threat to the entire cryptocurrency industry.
The LBRY network is decentralized and not at risk. For LBRY users, your channels, content, and token holdings are not at risk. Even in an unlikely scenario in which LBRY Inc. loses, the LBRY protocol and work on it will continue.
LBRY Inc. has been preparing to fight this case for three full years, which is how long the SEC has been investigating this matter. We wanted to tell you sooner, but we could not discuss an ongoing investigation. but transparency makes the SEC mad.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are my LBRY Credits safe?
Yes, all of your Credits remain usable even upon the SEC’s filing of the lawsuit. If you want to ensure you have complete control over your Credits, channels, and content, download LBRY Desktop.
Is the LBRY network in danger?
The LBRY network is robust and decentralized, and far harder to disrupt than LBRY Inc. Hundreds of people across six continents contributed to LBRY last year (c’mon Antarctica!). Even in the scenario that LBRY Inc. is literally destroyed by the SEC as a result of this lawsuit, the LBRY project will continue.
What are the specific charges?
Simply put, the SEC believes that the LBRY Credits are securities and should have been registered with the SEC prior to selling. This case is about overregulation. On a positive note, the SEC is not alleging fraud, and is not charging any individuals.
However, the SEC believes that, at a minimum, the following transactions were unregistered securities offerings:
- $10,000 worth of Credit sales to Shapeshift in July of 2016 to facilitate distribution to their users.
- Several hundred thousand dollars worth of Credit sales to Flipside Crypto in 2017 and 2018, despite Flipside explicitly saying they’re for use on the network.
- Several million dollars worth of Credit sales on exchanges, over a period of several years, only after the LBRY protocol was completely functional and had been in use for over a year.
At times, the SEC has made representations that even tipping $.25 worth of Credits for a clever GIF is an unregistered security transaction that must be registered and tracked. However, it’s unclear at this time if the SEC will continue to make this allegation in court.
A full table of sales is available in Appendix A. All of our Credit use has been diligently tracked at lbry.com/credit-reports.
What defenses will LBRY Inc. assert to defeat the lawsuit?
We do not believe that the LBRY token is a security subject to SEC regulation. The LBRY Credit is a commodity that facilitates the LBRY protocol which thereby allows individuals to publish content, purchase content, tip creators, and boost content on the decentralized LBRY protocol.
LBRY Inc. sold tokens so that purchasers could use them on the LBRY network, now or in the future.
The SEC claims that the LBRY Credit lacks sufficient utility and is not purchased for reasons of usage, which contradicts the facts and history of experience on the LBRY platform. The SEC’s position is that if something has value and someone buys it and the market sets the price, then it’s an investment contract and hence a security.
Has anyone alleged harm or damages?
Despite LBRY being used by millions of people, to our knowledge, not a single person has alleged harm or damage as a result of purchasing LBRY Credits.
Who is LBRY Inc represented by?
LBRY has hired one of the best law firms in the blockchain space -- Perkins Coie. Keith Miller and Adam Schuman will represent us at trial. Keith is a former SEC enforcement lawyer, and Adam is a former federal prosecutor. Keith and Adam have been named by Business Insider as two of the top 20 cryptocurrency lawyers in the country. 6m