Is Ethereum a scam and are Ethers unregistered securities? Fiduciary Duty Attorney Jason Seibert weighs in
Attorney Seibert claims Ethereum token pre-sale is an obvious sale of an unlicensed unregistered security
My opinion on this topic
I don't actually agree with the interpretation of Ethereum as being a company or business, or believe that Ethers are securities. At the same time I'm not a lawyer. I present this legal perspective because many others have posted in favor of the ICO model and claimed that there are little to no risks involved. The fact is that this is not very clear as to what the legal status of is or how regulators will treat it. In fact, if we assume regulators will treat it as securities then perhaps we can take a more active approach toward resolving these issues by either pushing to exempt ICOs from this regulation or by self regulating it using technical means and norms.
If we find regulators are likely to bring additional risks then it becomes possible to push to relax regulation in this space. Now I do agree with Jason's point that some of the marketing of Ethereum probably was not honest. Unstoppable contracts? Code is law? The DAO showed otherwise and that promise was really stupid in my opinion to put as official marketing. Calling it an investment also isn't very wise in my opinion.
A long time ago we realized that your project can be thought of many ways.
What you think you are doing
What a government thinks you are doing.
It doesn't matter what you think you are doing.
It's whether a government can convince a judge that what they think you are doing matches the same facts.
Isn't there a way we can just keep the regulators out of cryptocurrency? I mean, c'mon. Everybody knows they're dirty. Why are we inviting government mobsters into the house? There's no way that will end well for anyone other than the mobsters.
This is why most Crypto Companies are basing themselves where the law is holding their hand in places like Zug and Singapore. The US is mostly likely one of the worst. Recently we have seen more and more ICOs excluding US IP addresses. Of course that is very easy work around with VPN. Most regulation only helps the rich get richer. Excludes the little man. They scream protection but the facts are clear. Most extreme regulation just kills jobs and wealth.
I post my opinions here: https://steemit.com/ethereum/@dana-edwards/every-crypto-project-must-have-a-risk-mitigation-plan-prior-to-launch
Regulators have the agenda of reducing certain risks. The risks they are focused on might not be the same risks you're focused on as a developer and or user of the platform. In areas where interests align then platforms need to do a better job self regulating and controlling risks, such as dealing with actual scams, theft (like TheDAO), etc. But then in areas where no one is being protected by the regulatory action (victimless crimes) then there is no responsibility of developers to make regulatory persecution easier. Developers in fact in my opinion should make that more difficult.
So the point is, platforms need to deal with risks and self regulate. Platforms need to do this more effectively than external regulation mechanisms. We have to recognition what the reasons are for these regulatory agencies to exist in the first place and when it's a valid and justified reason then we can simply take on the same responsibilities through technical measures. We can reverse a theft with a hard fork, we can detect scams, we can use our own means of arbitrating disputes using smart contracts and blockchains, but what we cannot and should not do is ignore security and the risks.
The summary of my opinion is that as a community the developers and users need to develop their own regulatory equivalent of a crypto-based SEC to manage it's own risks which the SEC is set up to manage. It is not necessary for the SEC to intrude on blockchains and technical means of risk reduction unless the technical means fail and there is no other solution left. So my stance is I'm in favor of self regulation over external regulation with external regulation being truly the last resort if it is revealed that with the technology the community cannot self regulate. All centralized institutions are vulnerable to regulatory capture and regulatory failure, while decentralized institutions are untested and it is not known if they'll work for self regulation.
jdc, we invited the mobsters into the house in 1913, and the BIS would like to take down the cryptos which is why they must survive if mankind is to have any chance at all
EOS going to win over Ethereum:
https://steemit.com/eos/@lasseehlers/graphine-based-smart-contracts-signup-to-get-the-latest-news-here-http-eos-io-daniel-larimer-s-new-coin-is-to-be-released-at-a
State overreach.
This is similar to how the world resists the world of classical business. Crypto currency is breaking the existing system. But you can not ignore them. Naturally, now they are poorly regulated by law. But you can look at it from the other side. If the world financial system and laws corresponded to people's interests, then crypto-currencies, smart contracts and other similar technologies would never appear. Perhaps the developers are not entirely honest. This can be seen as a manifestation of corruption. But this exists in the ordinary business, despite all the laws and regulations.
laws and regulations used to serve their intended purposes, now used mainly to employ bureaucrats, and to repress the ill-informed
Ethereum is a scam. Yes. Definitely. Yes. Scam. All the way. Don't buy any. If you do, i'll take the scam coin off your hands. Thanks.
LOL
What is the consequences if etherium is truly not registered and unlicensed?
Well, if you're a multi-millionaire from launching Ethereum then I guess being rich is the consequence. Beyond that, I don't see any other obvious consequences to the founders.
I thought holdings will be forfeited
I am not sure what you mean.
I thought the etherium that are own by people will be forfeited in case... will be out of value.
Thank You for the Heads-Up !! I just joined Steemit 3 days ago.
I just followed You, please consider following me... Cheers !!
Jason's show is great.
I don't care if something is "unlicensed" or not. All licensing is a scam imposed by the government on society.
What I care about is if they are being honest. A license neither insures honesty, integrity nor safety.