Praetorian Group Files To Be First ICO To Sell Registered Security Tokens In US

The Praetorian Group, referred to as a “Cryptocurrency Real Estate Investment Vehicle,” (CREIV) has filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on March 6 to register their $75 mln Initial Coin Offering (ICO) as a security offering.

If the SEC accepts their registration, the Praeotorian Group will hold the first ever SEC-registered ICO.

The filing states that while there will be 200 mln of the Group’s PAX tokens on the Ethereum Blockchain, but the company is registering only the 15 mln offered in the ICO. These real estate-backed tokens will be offered for $5 per token, payable in Ethereum (ETH), Bitcoin (BTC)  Litecoin (LTC), to what the company confusingly refers to as “accredited investors”.

Under US law, an accredited investor is one with a certain financial status — securities offered only to accredited investors in the US can qualify for SEC Rule 506(c) exemption, as messenger app Telegram and photo giant Kodak did for their token offerings, making them exempt from registration with the SEC.

The filing references the uncertainty of the classification of ICOs as securities, but add that they think it is more “prudent” to register with the SEC in any case:

“Notwithstanding our belief that the PAX token might not constitute a security, we feel given the uncertainties from a regulatory standpoint that it is more prudent to deem the PAX token a security and follow through with the registration process before the SEC and gain the SEC necessary approvals as a registered security.”

The purpose of the CREIV is to buy and develop both residential and commercial properties that are undervalued or located in “blighted areas.” Praetorian Group’s aim is to “invest in lower income areas that we believe are poised to increase in value, infuse cryptocurrency into these areas and to fund “Out Reach Programs” to enrich the quality of life for the residents in which we owned properties.”

During February’s joint cryptocurrency hearing of the SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), SEC Chairman Jay Clayton spoke of the need for stricter regulations for ICOs and noted that every ICO the SEC had seen thus far is considered a security.