Plutus Lending, LLC d/b/a Abra

U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Litigation Release No. 1:24-cv-02457 / January 15, 2025

Securities and Exchange Commission v. Plutus Lending, LLC d/b/a Abra, No. 1:24-cv-02457 (D.D.C. filed Aug. 26, 2024)

SEC Obtains Final Judgment Against Abra

On January 13, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia entered final judgment against Plutus Lending, LLC, which does business as Abra, ordering it to pay a civil penalty of $1,650,000 and imposing a permanent injunction to resolve the SEC’s charges that Abra failed to register the offers and sales of its retail crypto asset lending product, Abra Earn.

The Securities and Exchange Commission filed its complaint on August 26, 2024, charging Abra with violating Sections 5(a) and 5(c) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 7(b) of the Investment Company Act of 1940. To settle the Commission’s charges, Abra, without admitting or denying the SEC’s allegations, consented to an injunction and agreed to pay a civil penalty in an amount to be determined by the court after briefing.

On August 30, 2024, the Court issued the proposed partial judgment, which permanently restrained and enjoined Abra from violating Section 5 of the Securities Act and Section 7(b) of the Investment Company Act.

On January 10, 2025, the parties notified the court that they had reached an agreement on the amount of a civil penalty, and on January 13, 2025, the Court issued final judgment consistent with that agreement, ordering Abra to pay a civil penalty of $1,650,000.

The SEC’s litigation was led by Zachary A. Avallone and supervised by James Connor and Christopher Bruckmann. The SEC’s investigation was conducted Brittany Frassetto and Kevin Hayne, supervised by Pei Chung and Stacy Bogert.