The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged blockchain startup, Enigma MPC, with conducting unlawful security offering.

According to a statement released on February 19, the SEC ruled that Enigma acted in violation of federal securities laws during its ENG ICO in 2017. The ICO which took place in November 2017 saw Enigma MPC raising about $45 million.

Following the SEC ruling, Enigma has agreed to pay a stated fine of $500,000. The company has also admitted to return funds to investors via a claims process. Furthermore, it will register the ENG tokens as securities and file periodic reports with the SEC. Enigma consented to the ruling without denying or admitting the SEC findings.

John Dugan, SEC Associate Director for Enforcement, said the remedies in the order provide ICO investors with the opportunity to obtain compensation and also the necessary information needed to make investment decisions.

Enigma mentioned in a blog post that this settlement has cleared the way for the company’s development team to focus fully on their original and continued vision. This vision is to build groundbreaking privacy solutions that improve the adoption and usability of decentralized technologies for everyone’s benefit.