According to a report today, the Director of Corporate Finance, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Bill Hinman, told an audience at DC Fintech Week that guidance will be forthcoming for cryptocurrency issuers.
The report first picked up by CoinTelegraph, quoted Hinman:
“We also will be putting out more guidance, the idea is a plain English instrument that people can look at and they’ll bring together sort of my Howey-meets-Gary speech, and that analysis … We’ll elaborate on that in a very plain English way, so ‘do I think I have a security offering,’ look at that guidance and you should be able to sort things out.”
Hinman reportedly said the guidance would be arriving by years end or early 2019.
Hinman has issued several statements on digital assets and the issuance of cryptocurrency in the past. Most notably, is his statement that Ethereum is not considered to be a security (although at the point of issuance this is not as clear). Hinman’s statement was then reaffirmed by SEC Chair Jay Clayton adding credence to the statement.
In the US, all crypto issuers are currently pursuing a security token offering (STO) and filing for a securities exemption. Yet issuers and issuing platforms still affirm their belief that once a token is actually issued, and can be used, it may be considered a utility (and not a security).
Meanwhile, there is chatter on Capitol Hill that legislation is being crafted to better define the emerging digital assets sector.
While some have criticized the SEC’s go slow approach, others have contrasted it to jurisdictions that have simply banned the issuance of crypto.
Developing …