The SEC Concludes DAO Tokens Were Securities

In a press release issued today, the SEC concluded that tokens that were part of The DAO project were in fact securities. What this means for current ICOs and future token sales is that they will have to abide by federal securities laws.

While many ICOs already exclude certain IP addresses from participating, this “official” ruling means the SEC may start cracking down on token sales based in the states.

“The Report confirms that issuers of distributed ledger or blockchain technology-based securities must register offers and sales of such securities unless a valid exemption applies. Those participating in unregistered offerings also may be liable for violations of the securities laws.”

The report goes into detail about how The DAO project worked, who was behind it, and how investors could become part of the project.