100% agree on this assessment and the difficulty of applying securities law. The application of the Howey test is so open for debate that it becomes uncomfortably subjective. See my comment here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20101984
Even if tokens aren’t a security (and although I understand both sides of the debate it’s my professional opinion that they are) they are most certainly a commodity. So the battle over jurisdiction is really between the SEC and the CFTC, not between the SEC and no oversight at all.
Interestingly, most of the points you raised (financing innovation, alternative to VCs, etc.) would put tokens such as Kin squarely in the “securities” bucket instead of the “commodities” bucket.
Regulation is coming for cryptocurrency and regulation is needed for cryptocurrency. And the industry would be far better served by working with their future regulators to establish reasonable guidelines rather than fighting them in court.
elliekelly|6 years ago
Interestingly, most of the points you raised (financing innovation, alternative to VCs, etc.) would put tokens such as Kin squarely in the “securities” bucket instead of the “commodities” bucket.
Regulation is coming for cryptocurrency and regulation is needed for cryptocurrency. And the industry would be far better served by working with their future regulators to establish reasonable guidelines rather than fighting them in court.