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[cormack12]

Source: https://www.pcgamesn.com/nvidia/fined-5-million-for-downplaying-crypto-GPU-business

Nvidia has received a fine of $5.5 million from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), for failing to disclose the impact of crypto mining on the sale of its GeForce GPUs. The company has neither admitted nor denied the charges, and has agreed to a cease-and-desist order in addition to paying the penalty in full.

This charge stems the company’s revenue during the 2018 fiscal year. Throughout that time, the SEC says “Nvidia customers increasingly used its gaming GPUs for cryptomining,” following higher demand and interest from consumers in cryptocurrency.

The SEC asserts that Nvidia “deprived investors of critical information to evaluate the company’s business in a key market”, due to the company “creating the impression that its gaming business was not significantly affected by cryptomining.” As a result, the company has been found to be in violation of the Securities Act of 1993 and the disclosure provisions of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

 

[Pejo]

5.5 mil, what a joke.

 

[Salty Popsicle]

Nvidia probably made 50x - 100x the amount of this fine by selling those price-inflated GPUs for 2+ years without concern. Hardly a slap on the wrist.

 

[Patrick S.]

Nvidia probably made 50x - 100x the amount of this fine by selling those price-inflated GPUs for 2+ years without concern. Hardly a slap on the wrist.

Add a few zeroes to that.

 

[Pagusas]

what an odd thing for Nvidia to do.

 

[StateofMajora]

Which is a fraction of a percent of what they made from the boom.

This is also why the ram manufacturers price gouge every once in a while, because they know the fines are nothing compared to the profits.

 

[Magic Carpet]

PC gaming was gangbusters during these years.
Crypto is a game that we play.

 

[Three]

I don't understand what the fine is for. Didn't they try to block crypto mining on their cards?

 

[Magic Carpet]

I don't understand what the fine is for. Didn't they try to block crypto mining on their cards?

They made all that money reporting it as gaming.
All they need to change is reporting it as Crypto.

 

[Bernd Lauert]

$5.5m is like half of what Jensen's kitchen costs.

 

[Kdad]

Can i get an NFT of this judgment?

 

[Bernd Lauert]

I don't understand what the fine is for. Didn't they try to block crypto mining on their cards?

I think they got fined for misleading investors. There was a ridiculous demand for gaming graphics cards but it turns out that the demand had nothing to do with gaming, so Nvidia's gaming business looked inflated. That's how I read the article at least.

 

[kiphalfton]

Doing a quick search, it seems like when fines are collected it pretty much either goes to the the Department of the Treasury or those affected by the illegal activities. The irony is it looks like on average it costs $4.6 million for the SEC investigations. If true, not only does this seem pointless but it also seems like a huge waste of money. Probably also pointless for Nvidia to fight it, as it’s probably cheaper to just pay it.

 

[GreatnessRD]

Lmao, Jensen said you want that in cash or crypto.

 

[cd_jakevas]

As long as everyone realizes that Nvidia doesn't actually pay this. These costs get passed back to us. Only winner here is the SEC.

 

[Three]

They made all that money reporting it as gaming.
All they need to change is reporting it as Crypto.

I find the whole concept of being fined based on what customers might use your product for a little strange. Especially when you try to actively block those uses.

 

[Braag]

The amount is laughable, who are they trying to fool.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

Always hilarious how corporations getting penalized pay negligible amounts of fines. $5.5M is a rounding error for Nvidia. Government must have the shittest prosecutors or the shittiest stated fines they can only enforce. It's like watching hockey and a player gets fined for diving. The league fine is $2,000. The avg player salary is $3M.

Last annual report they made $27B in sales and almost $10B profit.

Profit 9,700,000,000
Fine 5,500,000 or 0.06% of profit or 0.02% of sales

 

[Magic Carpet]

I find the whole concept of being fined based on what customers might use your product for a little strange. Especially when you try to actively block those uses.

Investing is always a risk but you try your best with what you know or at least think you know.
If Investors saw all those GPU's going into gaming then you might invest in a company that makes gaming PC's, or games.
You chose poorly because you were misled.
If they wanted to use the GPU's as paving stones in a super rich area of Dubai then whatever.
I don't know about the paving stone companies but had I known I might have invested in the company, instead of the ones making gaming PC's.

 

[BigBooper]

That's pretty dumb. Congrats shareholders, the company lied to you and now you'll have to pay for it. Directly fine the people responsible instead.

 

[SlimySnake]

$5.5 million when their profits were in billions is why this country is a fucking joke.

 

[winjer]

Not even a slap on the wrist....

 

[kiphalfton]

$5.5 million when their profits were in billions is why this country is a fucking joke.

If they fined retailer investors 0.06%, like the other guy said of Nvidia, that would be crazy. But let’s not pretend like that has ever happened.

Then there’s stupid shit like what robinhood pulled early last year preventing investors from opening new positions and only being able to sell. And nothing happened to them.

 

[Barakov]

Pocket change to Nvidia.

 

[Fbh]

pff $5,5 million?

That's like 2 3090s these days.

 

[jigglet]

5.5 mil, what a joke.

Seriously. Can we stop it with these pathetic fines for billion dollar companies?

 

[Buggy Loop]

The SEC is a fucking joke. These wrist slaps on schemes that makes billions is why everyone is cheating the system, because it pays more than being caught.

Only retail is fucked with SEC.

 

[Knightime_X]

If an employee loses $10,000 he would be fired so fast. Maybe even prosecuted.

The company gets fined 5m.
LoL oh well

 

[BusierDonkey]

Literally:

 

[Zeroing]

Nvidia right now:

 

[KungFucius]

So will they actually start disclosing this? How would they know apart from their own internal marketing research? I really want to know because I am curious. They failed to meet initial demand for the 10XXs slightly and then failed to meet demand catastrophically for the 30XX during a pandemic. Is it basically that the fine is so low it is cheaper to pay then to fight? Seems like it.

 

[Hustler]

Of course they paid that fine no questions asked. That’s a drop in the bucket compared to their annual revenue.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

Of course they paid that fine no questions asked. That’s a drop in the bucket compared to their annual revenue.

It's like robbing a bank. If the authorities asked me to pay back $10,000 out of a $1M theft and call it even, I'd be first in line when the bank opens tomorrow morning.

 

[Kdad]

It's like robbing a bank. If the authorities asked me to pay back $10,000 out of a $1M theft and call it even, I'd be first in line when the bank opens tomorrow morning.

Lol, like you'll beat the employees to the punch. I'd be draining the vault before you got there.

 

[Dirk Benedict]

$5.5m is like half of what Jensen's kitchen costs.

Jensen's Jacket is no more! He fully integrated the final pieces of it into the silicon, for the 40xx series.
What will he do for the 50xx series?

 

[Reallink]

So will they actually start disclosing this? How would they know apart from their own internal marketing research? I really want to know because I am curious. They failed to meet initial demand for the 10XXs slightly and then failed to meet demand catastrophically for the 30XX during a pandemic. Is it basically that the fine is so low it is cheaper to pay then to fight? Seems like it.

They make more than 5.5 million in a single Best Buy drop that sells out in less than a second. This is like the IRS fining you a nickel for failing to pay taxes for 30 years. Literally could not be a bigger joke to Nvidia, Jensen's oven mural costs more than 5.5 million.