Last week, we reported that the cannabis advocacy and culture brand High Times announced that they would be accepting Bitcoin and Ethereum as payment options in the company’s IPO, making it the first such public offering to do so. Now, however, it appears that they will not be accepting the digital currency after all, according to an August 13 filing by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
The crypto community was abuzz with anticipation last week after New York-based High Times announced that it would be accepting both Bitcoin and Ether – the Ethereum network’s native cryptocurrency – as means of payment in the company’s $50 million IPO (Initial Public Offering).
Speaking about the decision to accept cryptocurrencies, High Times CEO Adam Levin said at the time:
High Times has been at the forefront of popular culture for more than four decades. […] Now we’re taking another step into the future, not only as one of the first cannabis-related brands to go public on the Nasdaq but also as the first to allow Bitcoin and Ethereum as part of our public capital raise.
The IPO would have been a watershed moment for cryptocurrencies and would most likely have paved the way for acceptance in other IPOs as well. Unfortunately, that no longer seems to be the case as the publication has announced via its latest SEC filing that it will not be accepting Bitcoin after all.
High Times Walks it Back
Whether High Times simply changed its mind or it was somehow determined that it couldn’t legally accept cryptocurrency payments, the official narrative – according to the SEC – is that the company distributed the press release “in error.”
According to the filing:
On August 3, 2018, the Company published a press release relating to its Regulation A+ offering stating that it would accept Bitcoin as a form of payment for subscription to the Company’s shares. This press release was distributed in error as the Company will not be accepting Bitcoin as payment for shares. As provided in the Company’s subscription agreement related to the offering, the Company will only be accepting check, credit card, ACH or wire transfer as payment for subscription to shares.
Interestingly, the filing says nothing about Ether, although presumably it, too, has been eliminated as a payment option since the SEC notes that only checks, credit cards, and ACH or wire transfers will be accepted as means of payment.
The High Times IPO is currently in progress and will continue through September 12 or until it reaches its target of $50 million, whichever comes first.
Why do you think High Times changed its mind about accepting Bitcoin and Ether for its IPO? Let us know in the comments below.
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