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ARTICLE · 15 MAY 2019

SEC Issues Framework For "Investment Contract" Analysis Of Digital Assets

McCarthy Tétrault
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On April 3, 2019, the Strategic Hub for Innovation and Financial Technology – known as "FinHub" – of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission published a "Framework for ‘Investment Contract' Analysis of Digital Assets"

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CyberLex Blog
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Sonia Struthers
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Sean Sadler
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Dean Masse
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Shauvik Shah
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On April 3, 2019, the Strategic Hub for Innovation and Financial Technology – known as "FinHub" – of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") published a "Framework for 'Investment Contract' Analysis of Digital Assets" (the "Guideline") to provide additional guidance to market participants in determining whether a "digital asset" meets the definition of an "investment contract", and thus, is a "security" under U.S. federal securities laws. A "digital asset" is defined in the Guideline as "an asset that is issued and transferred using distributed ledger or blockchain technology, including, but not limited to, so-called 'virtual currencies', 'coins' and 'tokens'".

The Guideline is not a rule, regulation or statement of the SEC, nor is it an exhaustive treatment of the legal and regulatory issues relevant to conducting an analysis of whether a digital asset is an investment contract, and thus, a security under U.S. federal securities laws. FinHub

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