Key Highlights:
- Following SEC’s enforcement notice, Immutable’s IMX token dropped to $1.16, sparking fear and frustration across the crypto community.
- Immutable accuses the SEC of “regulation by enforcement” after receiving notice with minimal details, two years after the token’s launch.
Paradisers! Did the SEC just hit ‘send’ on another bombshell enforcement action? Just as Immutable, the Web3 gaming firm, thought it could breathe, in swoops the SEC with a Wells Notice, signaling a potential lawsuit over its 2021 IMX token sale.
And in classic SEC fashion, Immutable’s first-ever chat with the agency was swiftly followed by this ominous notice, just enough to send IMX’s price skidding 13% down to $1.16.
Regulation or Ambush? Immutable Calls Out the SEC
Immutable was quick to slam the SEC, accusing the regulator of “regulation by enforcement,” rather than offering clear rules for the road. Immutable’s statement makes it clear: they’re miffed about the SEC’s timing and lack of communication, especially when the notice was so light on specifics.
The notice supposedly alludes to a private pre-launch sale involving Huobi Ventures’ Blockchain Fund back in 2021, but details are scarce, fueling Immutable’s critique that this approach does anything but provide clarity.
A Familiar Pattern: Another Crypto Firm Under Fire
Immutable joins a growing list of crypto companies that have found themselves on the SEC’s radar, alongside names like Coinbase, Ripple, and OpenSea.
This move leaves many in the crypto world wondering if the agency’s playbook is regulation by stealth. Immutable’s CEO, along with executives from its parent entity, Digital Worlds Foundation, also received separate notices, while other “related inquiries” have popped up from the Department of Justice, though, so far, no lawsuits there.
Immutable’s response? They’re more than willing to go head-to-head with the SEC to prove that IMX isn’t a security. As they put it, “If winning against this attempted regulation by enforcement is how clarity comes, then we’re ready.”
