Indiegogo Refunds Investors for a Canceled ICO

In the last week of August, the company launched an Initial coin offering for a security token (STO).

The first ICO, however, was for a utility token that collected 5 million USD in December 2017. It was initiated by a Fan-Controlled Football League (FCFL). The crowd sale was employed to raise money for the development of a self-funded football league that gave total freedom to fans.  They had the opportunity to design the logo and make all the major decisions.

After the ICO, the FCFL struck a deal with the popular streaming platform Twitch to broadcast live games.  Around that time, Indiegogo was strictly following the highest standards required for legal compliance.

Despite the efforts made, the company‘s partner MicroVentures distributed an email concerning all the investors in the crowd sale, stating that the raised funds have not reached the FCFL.  According to MicroVentures, this situation was caused as a result of regulatory concerns.

Furthermore, Indiegogo chose to cancel the ICO and is in the process of issuing a complete refund. The company explained that the delay of the investments was done so MicroVentures could take the regulation steps while finalizing the ICO.

Even though the crowdfunding giant believed all was government compliant, the company preferred to return the money.

The decision raised questions and left many unsure if the situation was handled correctly.  A statement from the FCFL following the news declared that they did not give approval for the refund and have not received a valid reason for the cancellation of the ICO.

Before that public event, the FCFL updated its blog with a post that they would postpone their public ICO until the company has released a  completed platform to show regulators their FAN tokens are utility-based.

To finish the speculations a spokesperson of Indiegogo released an announcement that the company served as a joint venture between them and the broker-dealer MicroVentures. Indiegogo had nothing to do with the decision to refund the money - it was made by FCFL and MicroVentures only.