The Securities and Exchange Commission has fired warning shots at ICOs, stating:
The SEC's Report of Investigation found that tokens offered and sold by a "virtual" organization known as "The DAO" were securities and therefore subject to the federal securities laws.
[...]
In light of the facts and circumstances, the agency has decided not to bring charges in this instance, or make findings of violations in the Report, but rather to caution the industry and market participants: the federal securities laws apply to those who offer and sell securities in the United States, regardless whether the issuing entity is a traditional company or a decentralized autonomous organization, regardless whether those securities are purchased using U.S. dollars or virtual currencies, and regardless whether they are distributed in certificated form or through distributed ledger technology.
My view of this, as someone who owns a lot of ether, is generally positive. The space is currently running rampant with a great deal of irrational exuberance. This should (hopefully) tone that down a bit.
Moreover, the fact that they have chosen to issue a caution rather than pursue prosecution (any number of previous ICOs could likely be defined as a security) makes me optimistic that they do not want to stifle innovation in the area. I hope this can help bring 'blockchainised' securities into the mainstream.
Submitted July 26, 2017 at 06:06AM by AlexanderSupersloth http://ift.tt/2uYqYiO
