According to Cointelegraph, a federal judge in Utah dismissed an appeal to dismiss the lawsuit filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) against a promoter involved in alleged fraudulent cryptocurrency mining activities. The scheme is said to have accumulated $18 million through fraudulent activities. On November 26, Judge Ann Marie McIff Allen dismissed Kristoffer Krohn's appeal against her previous ruling on September 23, allowing the SEC's lawsuit against Green United LLC to proceed. Judge Allen stated that Krohn had not presented sufficient grounds for an appeal, emphasizing that there were no significant disagreements regarding the legal principles related to her previous ruling.
Krohn argued to dismiss the lawsuit, claiming that the SEC had not proven that the "Green Box" provided by Green United was an investment contract, as stated in the complaint of the regulatory agency. He continued to argue that the SEC had incorrectly applied the factors of the Howey test, which is used to determine what constitutes a security. However, Judge Allen dismissed Krohn's arguments, stating that he had selectively used terms from different definitions without providing any legal precedents to support his interpretation. The judge maintained that Krohn's arguments lacked legal basis and did not warrant a temporary appeal.
The SEC's lawsuit, filed in 2023, accuses the executives of Green United of orchestrating a fraudulent cryptocurrency mining scheme. This operation is alleged to have raised $18 million from investors between April 2018 and December 2022 by selling investments in "Green Boxes" and "Green nodes," which the SEC claims were to mine Bitcoin. In addition to Krohn, the founder of Green United, Wright Thurston, has also sought to dismiss the lawsuit, although the outcome of his request is still pending.