Solana DeFi Platform Mango Markets Settles SEC Charges Over MNGO Token

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced Friday that it has charged the teams behind the Solana-based DeFi platform Mango Markets—Mango DAO, Mango Labs, and the Blockworks Foundation—with securities charges following a lengthy investigation.

The charges have already been settled, and the settlement was approved by MNGO token holders via the Mango DAO in August. Collectively, the firms will pay nearly $700,000 worth of civil penalties and have agreed to "destroy their MNGO tokens, to request the removal of MNGO tokens from trading platforms, and to refrain from soliciting any trading platform to allow trading in or offering or selling MNGO."

Mango DAO and the Blockworks Foundation—the entity behind the token—were charged over the offer and sale of the MNGO tokens, while original platform developer Mango Labs and the Foundation were charged for acting as an unregistered broker.

“Since the inception of our crypto enforcement program, our view has been that the label ‘DAO’ does not change the reality of who is behind a project, what activities they engage in, or whether their activities need to be registered. Nor does engaging in intermediation of securities with the aid of automated or open source software change the nature of such activities,” said Jorge G. Tenreiro, Acting Chief of the Crypto Assets and Cyber Unit, in a release.

“If you engage in securities-intermediary functions," he continued, "you must register or be exempt from doing so, regardless of the technology employed and the type of legal entity used.”

Editor's note: This story is breaking and will be updated with additional information.