India, Oct. 23 -- Messaging startup Kik Interactive reached a $5 million settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to resolve charges of running an unregistered offering of digital "Kin" tokens in 2017 that violated the federal securities laws.

The SEC had filed a complaint with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on June 4, 2019. The court approved the negotiated settlement between Kik and the SEC. The court's decision recognized that Kik was engaged in a single, illegal offering of securities.

According to the complaint, the SEC alleged that Kik sold digital asset securities to U.S. investors without registering their offer and sale as required by the U.S. securities laws.

The court found t...