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ARTICLE · 22 MAY 2020

Planning A Token Offering? Take Note Of The SEC's Framework For ‘Investment Contract' Analysis Of Digital Assets

Ikigai Law
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The Strategic Hub for Innovation and Financial Technology of the Securities and Exchanges Commission recently released a Framework for ‘Investment Contract' Analysis of Digital Assets.

IndiaTechnology
Ikigai Law
Ikigai Law
Anirudh Rastogi
Anirudh Rastogi
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What is the document?

The Strategic Hub for Innovation and Financial Technology ("Staff") of the Securities and Exchanges Commission ("SEC") recently released a Framework for 'Investment Contract' Analysis of Digital Assets ("Framework" or "Document")1. These are essentially guidelines to assess whether an investment into a digital asset (which, per the document includes any asset which is issued or transferred using distributed ledger or blockchain technology2) would qualify as an 'investment contract' (which in itself is a type of security).

Why is it important?

The Document is important because several initial coin offerings ("ICO") have been asked by the SEC to comply with US securities laws and fulfil the compliances thereunder, with little clarity on which features imbue tokens with characteristics of securities.

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