Bankless Times spoke with key figures in the blockchain industry to get their reactions to the Securities and Exchange Commission’s ruling that U.S. securities laws may apply to offers, sales, and trading of interests in virtual organizations. Special thanks to Wachsman PR for their assistance.
Arnold Spencer is the general counsel of Coinsource, the world’s largest bitcoin ATM network:
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“The SEC weighing in represents public acceptance of blockchain instruments. They said that the DAO tokens were a security, and that all securities must be registered according to the law. The market was anticipating this, and the price of non-security tokens, like Ethereum, did not fluctuate when the SEC report came out.”
“We welcome it, and actually think it’s a step in the right direction for the industry. Before yesterday’s announcement, it was common knowledge that ICOs have been enveloped in a regulatory grey area, but we spent a lot of our resources on best-in-class legal counsel and compliance to ensure we conducted ours right.
“One of the most telling pieces in the SEC announcement was an acknowledgement that some ICOs are completely fair investments, and some are not. We fall into the former category. Just like any other opportunity, there are inherent risks involved, and ICOs are no different. The SEC is warning investors to be aware of the risks, and ensure they do their due diligence on the company conducting it, the structure of the token generation event, the team behind it, and the product roadmap.”
Read the full SEC report here.
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