If ICOs are securities

[MiddleFingerToTheMan]

Can someone break down what it means to the average investor if the SEC declares all ICOS and most altcoins securities? Will it only affect US citizens? What does it mean for the coins I bought in ICO and have sitting in my wallet?

[swissgang]

It will probably not happen I think this really would not be good. All new project try not to be called as security and design their currency regarding this issue, so I don't expect big crisis.

[MiddleFingerToTheMan]

It will probably not happen I think this really would not be good. All new project try not to be called as security and design their currency regarding this issue, so I don't expect big crisis.

I think it's very likely to happen. The SEC has already unofficially said that it views all ICOs as securities. Coinbase released an index fund and poloniex taken over by circle indicates that they are moving towards a more regulated, securitized environment.
What does this mean for the average investor holding tokens bought in an ICO?

[salterious]

There will be some negative reprocussions in the short term if USA decides to go this route, and long term that may either be the end of most altcoins or they will just function differently from how they currently do.

[ManaMan]

Can someone break down what it means to the average investor if the SEC declares all ICOS and most altcoins securities? Will it only affect US citizens? What does it mean for the coins I bought in ICO and have sitting in my wallet?

If they declare it as securities then it would only matter if company that hosts an ICO is from USA and if you are in the USA. Other thing that might and could happen is that some other countries start to look what they want to do with ICOs and how to regulate them and thus they might put them in same category as what USA did with ICOs. I suppose coins that you bought will be seen as some sort of securities as well then.

[BlockchainGod]

I am not a US citizen but as I know SEC has already classified many tokens as shares and is already preparing lawsuits against more than 200 companies. It's written on their website.

[jjacob]

Can someone break down what it means to the average investor if the SEC declares all ICOS and most altcoins securities? Will it only affect US citizens? What does it mean for the coins I bought in ICO and have sitting in my wallet?

If an ICO token constitutes a security, then the ICO must have followed onerous securities registration procedures to be completely on board. Else, the ICO could constitute an illegal securities offering and the promoters could face the music. If the promoters / developers of a coin face action from the US government, then you can predict what will happen to the market price of the security. In the best case, the SEC may ask the promoters to refund initial investors.

[Abigail.Parsons]

I don't think there will be any tax implications for people who buy before any security declaration is made. After I think the taxs will have to be adjusted and also the amount of projects launched as ICO projects will dramatically reduce because there is not much difference between that and a IPO

[artem.klimovich]

This is only for US citizens

[SUDARMONO]

That means you are investing in ico and you get a bonus from the purchase and you also expect to get a higher price than ico in when the coin has entered the market.

[yugyug]

If the SEC want to  implement securities on ICOs like what other form of investments did,then it is still good to us as an investor. SEC want to protect the investors, because there are some ICO that are scam and will run away when they get some huge amount of money from their investors and that's what SEC won't like to happen in the future.

[Qartersa]

If ICOs are officially referred to as securities by the Securities and Exchange Commission, it is inaccurate to say it only benefits the US investors. Please know that there are other countries whose government branch includes Securities and Exchange Commission as well. Take for example the Philippines. You know what I mean? What I am trying to say is the promulgation in the US does not automatically translate to it being the promulgation for the rest of the world because our laws vary per jurisdiction. Hence, as to the effect of referring ICOs as securities, it would now depend on whose government refers to ICOs as such. Make no mistake that laws are jurisdictional, and no matter how the US incurs case precedence over all others in most cases, the finding of such is not controlling as to the rest of the world.

[Inn0vative1]

I am not a US citizen but as I know SEC has already classified many tokens as shares and is already preparing lawsuits against more than 200 companies. It's written on their website.

Do you have a link to this?

If the US SEC declares ICOs as securities, that will just prevent Americans from participating in ICOs. A lot of ICOs already prevent American residents from participating due to the ambiguity of the legal status of ICOs. I believe ICOs will continue to flourish in countries and regions where there is less governmental control and regulation.