ATBCoin Hit With Class-Action Lawsuit After $20 Million ICO

Blockchain startup ATBCoin was hit with a class-action lawsuit, making it the latest in a string of projects to be sued by investors following initial coin offerings (ICOs).

ATBCoin Hit With Class-Action Lawsuit
Filed on Dec. 21 in the Southern District of New York, the lawsuit (PDF) alleges that ATBCoin and its operators violated the Securities Act by conducting a securities offering without registering with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

From the suit:

“The ATB ICO was a clear offer and sale of securities because, inter alia, Defendants touted, and Plaintiff and other ATB ICO investors reasonably expected, that the ATB Coins received in exchange for their investments would be worth more than the ETH, BTC, LTC, or other currencies invested. Additionally, as discussed herein, Defendants have explicitly referred to the ATB ICO participants as “investors” and repeatedly stressed the profit potential from holding ATB Coins,” the suit said.

Interestingly, the suit also claims that Herbert Hoover — one of ATBCoin’s co-founders — deceptively claimed that he is a descendant of both U.S. President Herbert Clark Hoover and the Hoover family that founded the Hoover Company.

“These claims are impossible as these two family trees are unrelated. Moreover, as is evident in a video of Defendant Hoover clearly reading his own “biography” with an accent, it appears highly unlikely that Defendant Hoover is who he claims to be,” the suit said.