U.S. SEC Drives ICO Shift From Utility to Equity
Description
The Blockchain Report is sponsored by Sun Fund. Sun Fund is tokenizing renewable energy assets. Check out our white paper: www.SunFund.io.
In this edition of the Podcast Report we discuss the transition of ICO’s from unregistered securities to registered securities.
Some of the questions we address are...
How far can the SEC reach?
What do Initial Coin Offerings have to do with Initial Public Offerings?
Where does the concept of a utility token come from?
What’s the difference between a security token and a utility token?
What rights can an investor get in ICO under what conditions?
If a token is a security, what type would ICO’s lend themselves to issuing their tokens as?
What is a common share?
What is a preferred equity share?
Why would a token register as a preferred equity share?
Can an ICO give rights to a token holder? What’s the relationship between the token and the definition of a token as a preferred equity share?
What are the potential long-term effects of holding unregistered tokens?
What should token holders look for?
Can offerers register with the SEC?
Is there a difference between where the token is offered, and where it is trading? What are the implications of that difference for US citizens and the SEC?
What’s an alternative trading system (ATS)?
RESOURCES
Here is an SEC statement about online trading platforms:
We started by discussing this article that explained that the SEC basically has very wide jurisdiction over ICO's where Americans are involved:
And we discussed that the SEC basically views most tokens as securities, not utility tokens:
https://www.sec.gov/news/public-statement/statement-clayton-2017-12-11
And we mention the Howe test:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SEC_v._W._J._Howey_Co.
Here is an SEC statement about online trading platforms:
Here is a link to general information about securities:
United States
