ICO News: Investor Complaint Takes Aim at Monkey Capital
A startup promising to decentralize hedge fund investing has become the defendant in a class action lawsuit filed in a Florida court and led by half a dozen investors. Monkey Capital is being sued for damages and equitable relief tied to an ICO that never reached completion. According to the complaint, these individuals poured more than USD 5 million into the token pre-sale, which is now worth more than USD 15 million as a function of the rise in cryptocurrencies in which they used to pay. Basically, the plaintiffs want their cryptocurrencies back from their early investment in the Monkey Capital ICO.
The crowdsale was first delayed and then allegedly never happened at all as the hedge fund’s fundraising website mysteriously disappeared, as per the complaint.
The plaintiffs, many of whom invested in the ICO pre-sale with bitcoin, believe that rather than being directed to develop a decentralized hedge fund dubbed Monkey Capital Market, their funds instead went directly to the defendant, Daniel Harrison. The plaintiffs no longer expect to generate any profit. The Monkey Capital Market was to be driven by Coeval and Monkey coins, which were investment contracts to be created by the defendant as a function of the Monkey Capital ICO.
Security Token
The investors want to know if the Coeval and Monkey coins that were offered prior to the Money Capital ICO should have been deemed securities. If so, then they allege Harrison should have registered the securities tokens with the US SEC. The lawsuit cites recent SEC commentary, and perhaps they didn’t consider the security token designation when they invested in July and August. The plaintiffs aren’t sure if there is a Monkey Capital platform in development today.
Harrison is accused of misrepresenting the upcoming ICO that never was and manipulating investors. They have entitled a section of the lawsuit, “Where Have You Gone Daniel Harrison” to underscore the fact that they have received no updates from the defendant. The class-action lawsuit is yet another reminder of the risks involved with projects that have not reached development.
