The federal court in Australia has absolved the fintech company Block Earner from any financial penalty in the local financial regulator’s lawsuit over unlicensed crypto yield-bearing products.
Block Earner “acted honestly,” according to a June 4 ruling by Justice Ian Jackman. When its yield-bearing “Earner” product debuted, the company did contemplate obtaining a license, but its research and legal counsel concluded it did not require one.
Charlie Karaboga, founder and chief executive officer of Block Earner, stated that obtaining a legal opinion before the product’s introduction “demonstrated that we operated with integrity and did everything possible as a startup.”
His only “silver lining” was that it was exempt from paying a penalty, which prevented him from referring to the decision as “fair.” Karaboga stated that the firm has “lost a lot of money” on legal fees over the past two years and continues to endure “reputational damage” due to the case.
Judicial Jackman denied the $234,000 (equivalent to 350,000 Australian dollars) punishment requested by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC). Three times the amount it earned from the product that prompted the lawsuit, Block Earner demanded a penalty of $40,000 (equivalent to 60,000 Australian dollars).
ASIC issued a press release on June 4 stating that it was examining the decision.
Judicial Jackman decided in February that Block Earner needed an Australian Financial Services License (AFSL) to offer its “Earner” products in 2022. These products provided loan yields denominated in USD Coin, Bitcoin, Ether, and PAX Gold (PAXG).
The court determined that the company’s “DeFi Access” product, which enables the utilization of the lending protocol Aave, did not function under a managed investment scheme and thus did not require an AFSL, thereby exempting it from liability.
When a fund aggregates investor funds and uses them to purchase assets, ASIC filed suit against Block Earner in November 2022, alleging that both the Earner and DeFi Access products required a license as they constituted managed investment schemes.
The Earner product was operational from November 16, 2022, until March 17, 2022, after Block Earner terminated it before the court proceedings.
