The U.S SEC is suing Hydrogen and Market Maker, Moonwalkers Trading, with the CEOs of the two companies. The commission accuses Hydrogen of market manipulation using Moonwalkers Trading and selling its Hydro Tokens using airdrops and bounty programs while funding its project in 2018. Though Hydrogen didn't use an initial coin offering (ICO), the commission still accused the firm of offering unregistered securities.
While many crypto enthusiasts assume token airdrops are immune to federal securities laws, the SEC insists that companies cannot avoid the securities laws using compensations, bounties, or other similar methods.