Speaking today at a conference, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Director of Corporate Finance, William Hinman, revealed in a speech that the SEC does not consider Ether, the Ethereum network’s native cryptocurrency, to be a security:
“Based on my understanding of the present state of Ether, the Ethereum network and its decentralized structure, current offers and sales of Ether are not securities transactions.”
We are glad the SEC agrees with our long held analysis of how securities law applies to decentralized cryptocurrency networks like Bitcoin and Ethereum (See, in particular, our analysis of Ethereum here). We are thrilled to see it take strong pro-innovation approach to this nascent technology. With this guidance, the SEC is showing that taking a pro-innovation approach does not have to come at the expense of protecting investors.
Director Hinman’s analysis was based on an appreciation for the nuances of how decentralized technology really works, something we laid out years ago in our framework for securities regulation of cryptocurrencies. He used his speech to explain the Howey Test for determining whether a financial instrument is an investment contract and concluded that his analysis was that Ethereum failed the Howey test and, therefore, could not be considered a security:
When the efforts of the third party are no longer a key factor for determining the enterprise’s success, material information asymmetries recede. … the ability to identify an issuer or promoter to make the requisite disclosures becomes difficult, and less meaningful.
It is a very good day for US policy toward the technology of innovation.
For more information on Ethereum, please see this explanation written by Ethereum’s founder, Vitalik Buterin, on Coin Center’s website: What is Ethereum?