Updated: September 27, 2024, 3:41 PM EDT
Mango DAO has agreed to a settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission after being accused of illegally selling MNGO tokens.
The SEC charged Mango DAO and Blockworks Foundation, a Panamanian entity, with “engaging in the unregistered crypto asset offering and sale” of governance tokens on the Mango Markets platform. The agency also said it settled charges against Blockworks Foundation and Mango Labs LLC, which acted as brokers without being registered.
All three – Mango Labs, Mango DAO, and Blockworks Foundation – agreed to settle the charges and pay a total of $700,000 in fines. The three also agreed to delist MNGO tokens.
“Since the inception of the Cryptocurrency Enforcement Programme, we have been of the view that the label ‘DAO’ does not change the reality of who is behind the project, what activities they engage in, and whether they need to register their activities. Engaging in securities broking with the help of automated or open source software does not change the nature of such activities,” said Jorge G. Tenreiro, Acting Head of the Crypto Assets and Cyber Department. statement on friday.
The SEC also noted in its complaint: 
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The settlement comes two years after now-convicted Abraham Eisenberg was indicted on the charges. exploitation Mango Markets caused the platform to lose approximately $116 million worth of funds.
Updated: 7:40 PM UTC, September 27 with full details.
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Sarah is a reporter for The Block covering policy, regulation and legal events. Previously, Sarah was a reporter covering securities regulation at CQ Legal, where she first began reporting on cryptocurrencies. Sarah has also written for The Bond Buyer and American Banker, among other financial publications. She graduated from the University of Missouri with a degree in Print and Digital Journalism. Sarah lives in Washington, DC and is an avid coffee lover. You can follow her on Twitter @ForTheWynn.