It looks like you created a new account specifically to respond to my post questioning the legality of the Nxt IPO. I think I struck a nerve somehow.
If any of the founders sold shares to US residents, then I believe SEC registration would have been required. How is this different than Satoshi Dice? But SEC registration most certainly did not happen (please correct me if I'm wrong), so I believe the SEC would have a case against any of the 47 initial founders should any of them financially profit by selling their stake to US residents.
EDIT: This is interesting. Perhaps the Eric Voorhees / Satoshi Dice precedent just killed the IPO model for launching cryptocurrencies.
It's one of the reasons I dropped the IPO model for MC2. I kind of wonder if it has ramifications for spinoffs too, because with a spinoff of Bitcoin you could buy bitcoins now and get coins for them later.
Someone at the company I work for is talking to some corporate lawyers right now about the legality of these IPOs in general.
Note that a lot of banking for other IPOs seems to be done offshore, too (not naming names), and that they're going so far as to avoid the term "IPO" lately.
I think developers have to start thinking about the Voorhees-issue if they are receiving money (bitcoins, USD, etc) in exchange for some sort of virtual token. In my mind, this applies to any "pre-mined" coin when it is clear that pre-mine was effectively "closed." So this would apply to "insta-mines" too.
In reality this won't matter for 99% of altcoins because serious money won't be made. But in the case where a pre/insta-mined coin does take off, then I could see the founders getting the Voorhees treatment (or worse).
Eventually I think the SEC will lose control here, but until then it is important to understand exactly what the laws are. It's a shame really, because this probably affects the ability of bitcoin start-up companies to fund-raise via colored coins
The SEC would have to prove NXT was shares. As has been pointed out shares don't get trade as currency. Since soon millions of NXT will be traded as currency, then how is your SEC lawyer friend going to make his case.
Your argument is a stretch at best. Eriks shares were never used as currency.
Just because you don't think it's a currency does mean its not.
The case against currency IPOs is weak at best.
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