The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission late last week settled charges with two companies it charged with offering digital tokens in a manner that ran afoul of rules.
According to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) press release issued on November 16, the two technology companies agreed to register their digital token offerings as securities and to pay back investors. It is the first time the SEC slapped companies with penalties for getting around rules via initial coin offerings (ICOs), noted Reuters in a report. It also signals an increase in the SEC’s oversight of the cryptocurrency market. Back in March the SEC said it would treat most token offerings as the same as securities offerings and that it will impose fines on those that skirted the laws.
The two companies that settled with the SEC are CarrierEQ and Paragon Coin Inc. Combined, the two raised $27 million selling tokens to investors. According to the SEC’s orders, both CarrierEQ (Airfox) and Paragon Coin conducted ICOs in 2017 after the SEC warned that ICOs can be securities offerings. Airfox, a Boston-based startup, raised approximately $15 million worth of digital assets to finance its development of a token-denominated “ecosystem” while Paragon, an online entity, raised approximately $12 million worth of digital assets to develop and implement its business plan to add blockchain technology to the cannabis industry and work toward legalization of cannabis. Neither Airfox nor Paragon registered their ICOs pursuant to the federal securities laws, nor did they qualify for an exemption to the registration requirements, the SEC said in the release.
They two have agreed to pay back investors and will each pay $250,000 in fines as part of a settlement agreement with the SEC. The companies didn’t admit or deny the charges. Under the settlement, the SEC is requiring both companies to file reports periodically with the SEC for 12 months and potentially longer.
“We have made it clear that companies that issue securities through ICOs are required to comply with existing statutes and rules governing the registration of securities,” said Stephanie Avakian, one of the SEC’s enforcement chiefs.“These cases tell those who are considering taking similar actions that we continue to be on the lookout for violations of the federal securities laws with respect to digital assets.”
Work marketplace Upwork earned record revenue in 2024 and attributed its gains in part to artificial intelligence (AI).
In an earnings release and other materials issued Wednesday (Feb. 12), the company highlighted AI innovations it added to its marketplace platform and AI talent the platform connects with its clients.
“We’ve rapidly unlocked demand for AI-related work on our platform,” Upwork President and CEO Hayden Brown said in prepared remarks for the company’s quarterly earnings call.
Upwork reported full-year revenue of $769.3 million, which marked a 12% year-over-year gain and an all-time high, according to the earnings release.
The company achieved this gain during a year in which the broader staffing industry saw a 9% decline in revenue, Brown said in her prepared remarks.
During the year, the gross services volume (GSV) from AI-related work grew 60% and the number of clients engaging in AI-related projects grew 42%.
In addition, in 2024, the hourly earnings of freelancers engaged in AI-related work were 44% higher than those of other freelancers, per the release.
AI has been the fastest growing major category on the Upwork platform for several quarters, with clients seeking talent in prompt engineering, AI integration, generative AI modeling, and data labeling and annotation, according to an investor presentation released Wednesday.
During the Q&A portion of the earnings call, Brown said Upwork has grown and “shape-shifted” to meet the emerging demand for AI talent just as it did in the past, when there was newly created demand for social media managers and mobile developers.
“We are also leveraging AI on our platform to underpin the evolution of predictive and delightful conversational customer experiences,” Brown said in her prepared remarks.
Upwork enhanced its platform in April by adding an AI assistant called Uma that performs tasks like creating tailored proposal drafts for freelancers, evaluating candidates for clients, and scoping projects and designing optimal teams of experts for larger clients, according to the earnings release and the presentation.
The firm also acquired AI-native search-as-a-service company Objective, a move it said allowed Upwork to enhance the search and match performance of its platform, strengthen the company’s AI and machine learning teams, and continue to develop new capabilities for Uma.
“As the AI work tide builds, organizations of all sizes are seeking out more flexible talent models that match their needs for new and emerging skills, with partners who integrate cutting edge AI technology and valued human workers seamlessly and at scale to rapidly deliver on their priorities,” Brown said in her remarks.
“At the same time, professionals across geographies, specialties and industries want digitally powered ways of working that give them easy access to more autonomy, flexibility and earning power.”