Industry news: New US law to regulate crypto, ICOs, and securities

December 6, 2018

There’s been an important development in the US regarding cryptocurrency, initial coin offerings (ICOs), and security token regulation. At the Blockchain Solutions conference, Congressman Warren David revealed plans to implement legislation to clearly regulate the above. The bill will create an asset class for cryptocurrencies and digital assets that will prevent them from being classified as securities, while allowing the federal government to regulate ICOs more effectively.

 

The move will bring some much needed clarity to US crypto regulation – as it stands, regulatory agencies classify tokens differently to place them under their own jurisdiction. For example, the stance of the Securities and Exchanges Commission (SEC) is that most cryptocurrencies are securities, while the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) treats them as commodities. For example, the CFTC argues that Bitcoin has more in common with gold than with currencies or securities as it doesn’t have government backing nor liabilities attached to it. Whereas the Crimes Enforcement Network (FINCEN), the agency managing anti-money laundering (AML) and know your client (KYC) standards, views crypto as money.

 

Read the full article here.