30s Summary

A Utah judge has declined an appeal to drop a lawsuit by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) against Green United LLC, which is accused of a sham crypto mining scheme worth $18 million. Defendant Kristoffer Krohn failed to provide valid reasons for his appeal, said Judge Ann Marie McIff Allen. Krohn disputed the SEC’s claim that Green United’s “Green Boxes” were investment contracts and argued the SEC misinterpreted the Howey test details. The SEC accused Green United of operating a phony crypto mining venture from 2018-2022. Wright Thurston, Green United’s founder, is also seeking to have the case dismissed.

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So, a Utah judge has decided not to throw out a case about a supposed bogus crypto mining firm, which is being sued by the Securities and Exchange Commission for a scheme worth $18 million. Judge Ann Marie McIff Allen said on November 26th that Kristoffer Krohn’s appeal to drop the SEC’s case against Green United LLC wouldn’t go through, saying he didn’t provide any solid reasons to back up his appeal.

Basically, Krohn tried to argue that the SEC didn’t have enough evidence that the Green Boxes sold by Green United were investment contracts, like the SEC said in their case. He also said the SEC messed up details of the Howey test, which is a way to define what securities are.

But Judge Allen wasn’t having any of it. She said Krohn was wrong, mixing up terms from two different definitions and not giving any legal proofs to support his side.

In 2023, the SEC called out Green United for running a fake crypto mining operation that made $18 million between April 2018 and December 2022 by selling investments in things called “Green Boxes” and “Green nodes.” According to the SEC, these things were actually mining Bitcoin.

Also, Wright Thurston, the guy who started Green United, is trying to get the case thrown out too.