A US judge ruled that blockchain-based publishing company LBRY Inc offered its digital assets as securities without registering them.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sued LBRY last year for violating a US law by selling its LBRY Credits without registering them as securities.
According to US District Judge Paul Barbadoro, no reasonable jury could reject the SEC's claim that LBRY offered the credits as an investment in its content distribution network.
Barbadoro added that "nothing in the case law suggests that a token with both consumptive and speculative uses cannot be sold as an investment contract."
The judge also rejected LBRY's defense that it lacked notice that the law applied to it.
LBRY CEO Jeremy Kauffman said the decision sets a standard that would deem "almost every cryptocurrency" a security, threatening the US cryptocurrency industry.
LBRY argued that, unlike in other cases where certain digital tokens were deemed securities, its credits were functional as currency on its platform, allowing content creators to earn cash and accept tips.
The judge also rejected LBRY's defense that it lacked notice that the law applied to it. The company had said its case was the first where the SEC alleged registration violations against an issuer of digital tokens that did not conduct an initial coin offering.
