<p>Tezos Foundation announced that it has entered into a settlement of all class-action lawsuits. </p> <p>The <a href="https://tezos.foundation/news/update-on-civil-litigation-involving-the-tezos-foundation">settlement</a>, if approved by the court, will conclude the<span style="font-weight: 400;"> blockchain project's</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> prolonged Class Action dispute over its $232 million initial coin offering (ICO). </span></p> <p>"The Tezos Foundation chose to settle all claims because the Tezos Foundation believes it is in the best interest of the Tezos project and community as a whole. The Foundation continues to believe the lawsuits were meritless and continues to deny any wrongdoing. However, lawsuits are expensive and time-consuming, and it was decided that the one-time financial cost of a settlement was preferable to the distractions and legal costs associated with continuing to fight in the courts," the foundation stated in the announcement. </p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In July 2018, Tezos shocked the market by conducting one of the largest ICOs in history. However, the project <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/bitcoin-tezos/tezos-organizers-hit-with-second-lawsuit-over-cryptocurrency-fundraiser-idUSL1N1NG1FG">was soon hit</a> by two lawsuits claiming that the ICO was an illegal and unregistered securities offering. The two lawsuits were then <a href="https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/6230817/in-re-tezos-securities-litigation/">consolidated</a> in 2018. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">In response, Tezos has argued that it was not a securities offering but a fundraising event instead, where tokens were given backs as a gift in exchange for people’s donations to the project.</span></p> <p>The settlement is still pending court approval.</p>