Christopher Krones, the chief promoter of Green United, a company specializing in cryptocurrency mining equipment, has filed an appeal against the SEC lawsuit accusing the company of committing fraud amounting to $18 million, according to Cointelegraph.

Krones argues that the SEC mistakenly treats Green United’s investment contracts as securities. He plans to challenge the commission’s position that equipment buyers were involved in a “joint venture.”

“The SEC has not and cannot claim that buyers had rights to a share of Green United’s profits. Therefore, Krones was simply selling powerful computers, not securities,” the appeal states.

Krones also requests the court to take into account the technological novelty of the case when reassessing the facts. If successful, his case will be reviewed by the appellate commission, which could delay the process by several months.

In September, a district court in Utah denied Krones, Green United, and its founder Wright Thurston’s request to dismiss the SEC lawsuit, finding the regulator’s claims about the sale of unregistered securities to be valid.

It is worth noting that in March 2023, the SEC accused Green United of violating federal law and committing fraud to the tune of $18 million. According to the complaint, the company sold Antminer S9 devices under the guise of “Green Boxes” for mining allegedly “eco-friendly” GREEN tokens, which, in reality, did not exist.