Bitcoin Forum

SEC: ICO Tokens Should Be Regulated as Securities, Not Bitcoin

Chairman Clayton described a “complicated area,” one in which he divides between bitcoin as a currency and ICOs. Bitcoin, Chairman Clayton said, has “been determined by most people to not be a security.”
Tokens used to finance projects, such as tokens that are issued in the fundraising process of an ICO, however, are different.

https://www.ccn.com/sec-ico-tokens-not-bitcoin-should-be-regulated-as-securities/

This has been the stance of the SEC for quite some time. They did not press charges against DAO, but nevertheless they did say that the DAO should have followed all guidelines relating to securities. They also have vigorously pursued a few ICO operators. So there is nothing new in the chairman's views.

How does the SEC treat tokens backed by fiat like Tether? Could one back their ICO token with fiat and still have it be taxed like Bitcoin?

This has been a big issue for too long for many ICOs issued in the marketplace. Maybe what SEC should do is ask for a law that will define all of these ICOs and where the regulatory requirements are being laid down. I believe that the existing laws on securities may not be enough to cover ICOs as they are of different nature and should be treated differently. This is the best way we can settle this issue once and for all. And only those projects approved by SEC should be allowed to hold its ICO in the entire USA...now as far as other countries are concerned SEC or the US government should not intervened except in cases where USA citizens are also involved.

I think before the SEC should take a toll on how to classify ICO tokens, they should first define what Bitcoin is, along with all other cryptocurrencies. This way, the public will be guided on what cryptocurrencies are on the point of view of the government. This, to me, is defining limits and is thus simply setting the records straight. Otherwise, we will all be placed at a jumble mainly because we have not even resolved the basic yet we already try to define little by little the incoming issues that we face. Otherwise stated, we have to begin solving the root problem before we can very well move forward.

Whatever it was, at the moment most of the coins and tokens are far from their intended functional and perform only speculative functions.