Bitcoin Forum

Hi
do you know any UK company did ICO ?
is it legal for a UK company doing ICO or not ?

please help me advice

thank you very much

anyone can help please

Have they defined anything yet? They're more tied to other markets so I wouldn't be surprised if the answer is more similar to the USA.

I think the question is if the ICO is a security or not.

It still is in a grey area, in my opinion. There have been no major clarifications, like what the SEC has given in the USA.
Plus, I don't think ICOs explicitly block out UK companies from subscribing. So they don't think they need to fear the UK regulators.

i see recently some ICO try avoid issue token for user in their country
which i am not sure what reason behind

it also not see much UK company doing ICO

In the absence of guidance, look for organizations that would be antagonistic to what you aim to achieve. That would be the SEC in this case :D

even if you behaved as though this was a grey area in the UK, you could still run afoul of the SEC if you offer this/any unregistered security to American citizens. the UK and the US are bedmates when it comes to extradition, so if you were looking for people not to piss off, you would avoid doing anything to attract the attention of the SEC. A lot of this has to do with how the project is presented/ explained. You would go far not explicitly promising profit or dividends, even if there is a mechanism in the token/platfrom that might provide it.

"its a feature' ;) ;D

ok thanks for your information
what about UK citizen ? if it still in grey should we offer them same as another country (not US)

I have thought the same question and decided not to get involded with any ICO.  Anyway it does not matter now the ICOs will probably die off and forking BTC will be the new trend.

I am not 100% sure at this time. as know The UK Company do ICO. There Have no Problem and the don't face any Problem.

I am just Think.

Under Uk law and according to the reforms introduced in parliament after the 2010 election, namely the Financial Services Act 2010 (FCA) ,The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is now the City's behavioural watchdog regulating the banks, stock markets etc and the Bank of England has also gained direct supervision for the whole of the banking system through its powerful Financial Policy Committee (FPC). As it stands currently, the FCA seeks to regulate exchange points where people sell or buy crypto currency with fiat. Consultation papers have suggested stricter AML (anti money laundering) and KYC (know your customer) laws. As to the issue of ICOs, you can be sure that if an ICO defrauds any one within the UK's jurisdiction, it is a crime under the common law and you can be liable both in criminal and civil court. If there's no fraud, then as it stands today, it is a grey area leaning towards legality (as there is no law/ direction banning it).

thank you for nice answer
i do believe that most of uk company which got real product will never try to scam their investors
Royal mint is example : they are on the way ico their coin to market

another question i just want to know : for now ICO should be ok with UK citizen but in case of FCA will follow SEC and want to change the law in the future . then they could chase back all previous ICO or not  ?

if i understand your question, you're asking if ICOs were to be declared illegal in the future, what would the legal status of the ICOs prior to the declaration. Well, according to the UK's unwritten constitutional doctrine of the rule of law, one of the cornerstones of the doctrine is that laws should not be applied retroactively i.e if an act was legal before being declared illegal, then it cannot be retroactively illegal. So ICOs carried out before the law changes would most likely remain legal UNLESS parliament decides to pass a law stating otherwise.

This site explain about ICOs in UK https://bitcoinexchangeguide.com/cryptofinancing/

Most probably your ans is right but i am not sure.I am not found any clear evidance this issue.But China ban ICO everybody knows that.If UK company attempt to announced ICO is illegal for UK this decision is very bad i think.

Haven't found a place that tells you which ICO's are legal and where, but one I did hear about is unikoingold.
They got their malta license, making real-money wagering in esports legal in like 80% of europe.

It is. It's come against further scrutiny after the China ban though. Refer to this article:

https://www.ft.com/content/57626298-92f7-11e7-bdfa-eda243196c2c?mhq5j=e5

It basically states that ICOs are very similar to Initial Public Offerings, so it's possible for them to be regulated as such. You're free to start your own ICO, and you're free to invest in them. Should you scam, or get scammed, it's very possible for the state to intervene. It doesn't look like a ban ala-China is on the table. UK is generally very supportive of emerging technologies.

Some ico's are legal in the UK. Just depends what it is tbh. Legislation will come soon though.

If you're looking for an ico that is legal in the UK, I would recommend UKG. Their sale ends in 10 hrs, so i would recommend hopping on it.

Yea, the platform unikrn has been legal in the UK before they got the license.

ico seems very promising as well.

Yes it is for some. I agree with everyone above. Unikoin has been stirring up some attention and I got into the sale as well. Just keep in mind that you have 3 hours to participate. I think it's a good long term hold

+1 for unikoingold for me. Legal fiat wagering in the UK and Mark Cuban backed. Solid idea and future ahead. Ends in 2 hours tho

some ico's are legal in uk so here people using bit coins mostly legally. for that reason here ico's usage is high. but present in the days few people try to using it illegally because they want to become rich early so they have to trying  usage of bit coin illegally. for that that country government try to banning it. i think uk people are very smart so they did not do up their. its my opinion.

Considering that the Nation of Estonia is thinking of issuing its own coin I would say yes they are legal.