Mango Markets to destroy MNGO tokens following SEC settlement

The SEC’s announcement comes as Mango Markets also mulls a CFTC settlement

article-image

Mango Markets and Adobe stock modified by Blockworks

share

The Securities and Exchange Commission settled charges with Mango Markets on Friday. 

Mango Markets settled without admitting or denying the SEC’s findings and agreed to “destroy their MNGO tokens, to request the removal of MNGO tokens from trading platforms, and to refrain from soliciting any trading platform to allow trading in or offering or selling MNGO.”

The SEC accused Mango of the unregistered offering of MNGO and also claimed that it — alongside Blockworks Foundation — operated as an unregistered broker.

Read more: DAO behind Mango Markets votes for SEC settlement

“According to the SEC’s complaint, starting in August 2021, Mango DAO, a purportedly decentralized autonomous organization, or DAO, and Blockworks Foundation, a Panamanian entity, raised more than $70 million from unregistered offers and sales of MNGO tokens, the so-called governance tokens of the Mango Markets platform, to hundreds of investors worldwide, including in the US,” the SEC said.

The Blockworks Foundation, according to Mango Markets documents, is a non-profit incorporated in Panama. It is not linked to Blockworks, the New York-based media and research company. 

The two entities will also pay $700,000 in civil penalties. 

“Since the inception of our crypto enforcement program, our view has been that the label ‘DAO’ does not change the reality of who is behind a project, what activities they engage in, or whether their activities need to be registered. Nor does engaging in intermediation of securities with the aid of automated or open source software change the nature of such activities,” said the SEC’s Jorge G. Tenreiro.

Mango Markets is also currently nearing a settlement offer with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, according to a proposal from the DAO. 

Earlier this year, Avraham Eisenberg was convicted following a trial related to his 2022 trades on Mango Markets. He was accused of manipulating Mango Markets futures contracts.

Eisenberg, who was charged with wire fraud, commodities fraud and commodities manipulation, is seeking a new trial or acquittal. 


Start your day with top crypto insights from David Canellis and Katherine Ross. Subscribe to the Empire newsletter.

Explore the growing intersection between crypto, macroeconomics, policy and finance with Ben Strack, Casey Wagner and Felix Jauvin. Subscribe to the Forward Guidance newsletter.

Get alpha directly in your inbox with the 0xResearch newsletter — market highlights, charts, degen trade ideas, governance updates, and more.

The Lightspeed newsletter is all things Solana, in your inbox, every day. Subscribe to daily Solana news from Jack Kubinec and Jeff Albus.

Tags

Upcoming Events

Salt Lake City, UT

WED - FRI, OCTOBER 9 - 11, 2024

Permissionless is a conference for founders, application developers, and users. Come meet the next generation of people building and using crypto.

Javits Center North | 445 11th Ave

Tues - Thurs, March 18 - 20, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

recent research

Research Report Templates (6).png

Research

In recent months, a number of highly accretive developments were implemented across the protocol to improve fee capture, expand product functionality, and ultimately drive value accrual to the RUNE token, with more upgrades on the immediate horizon. These developments include hiking the minimum swap fee parameter to increase revenue, adding a Burn System Income Lever to reduce the RUNE supply, the addition of COSM-WASM smart contracting and IBC to enable an application layer, new chain integrations, and more.

article-image

A repayment plan has officially been approved, nearly two years after FTX went bust

article-image

Coinbase filed an interlocutory appeal in its case against the SEC earlier this year

article-image

FTX “never had the crypto” to make in-kind distributions, witness says at FTX’s confirmation hearing

article-image

Lucid Ventures co-founder Meta said they don’t think Solana is “abnormal” in the VC world, where it’s “standard” for many projects to fail

article-image

Plus, Polymarket hits all-time highs in daily trading volumes

article-image

Bitcoin is now in the second half of its bull market, if the previous ones are anything to go by