Trouble ahead for Brock Pierce, in the midst of the US 2020 presidential election campaign. In the past few days, he has allegedly received a subpoena in the lawsuit for fraud brought by those who claim to have been defrauded by the EOS ICO.
The SEC had already ruled on the case, fining EOS for $24 million. However, those who bought the tokens subsequently gathered together in a class action. The case involves Brock Pierce as a former Chief Strategy Officer, as well as the CEO of Block.one Brendan Blumer, the CTO Daniel Larimer and Ian Grigg.
The charge is that they illegally sold securities not registered with the SEC. Plaintiffs also allege that the promoters of the ICO artificially inflated the price of EOS, effectively misleading investors. It was 2017, in the middle of a speculative bubble.
Those who consider themselves defrauded also complain that Pierce and partners allegedly claimed that EOS would be decentralized, when in reality the system of governance is in the hands of block producers.
The EOS ICO raised $4.1 billion. It is easy to imagine how many people may have believed in the project. However, unlike other ICOs that have emerged during the speculative bubble by offering unlisted tokens, EOS is currently on the market.
Not only that, it is also one of the cryptocurrencies with the highest capitalization. According to CoinMarketCap, it is in 13th position among the most capitalized, though it has strongly depreciated over time. It is currently trading at around $2.60, yet the record of $22 reached in April 2018 is a long way off, which explains the anger of investors.
The EOS ICO, Brock Pierce and the US presidential elections
This legal storm comes less than two months before the elections in the United States, in which Brock Pierce is laboriously trying to shake up the balance between Democrats and Republicans.
While his detractors accuse Brock Pierce of running in an “outlandish presidential campaigns” just to escape the lawsuit, he continues his journey in the United States.
https://twitter.com/jameskoutoulas/status/1305584521170104323?s=20
In these “hot” days Brock Pierce is conquering New York, where he recently inaugurated his headquarters. His candidacy now seems to be taken into consideration by the mainstream media. Newspapers such as the New York Post and newspapers such as Fox News are talking about Brock Pierce, often mentioning his child actor career in The Mighty Ducks, a Walt Disney film from the 1990s.
Aware that he cannot win against two giants like Joe Biden and current president Donald Trump, what Brock Pierce is really hoping for, according to his recent statements, is to be disruptive and start building an alternative.
After all, he said, he is only 40 years old and has another 40 years ahead of him. He has time, and it seems that the lawsuit surrounding EOS hasn’t affected him at all.