In 2018, according to MarketWatch conclusions obtained after studying the Edgar database, 287 ICO campaigns have registered in the Commission on securities and exchange Commission (SEC), taking advantage of its design in the form D (private placement securities) within 15 days after the conclusion of the first investment contract with accredited investors. Their investors were private individuals with net worth assets in excess of $1 million or with annual income of more than $200 thousand, or company with assets exceeding the threshold of $5 million
For the last 12 months with the peak level in the second quarter, these projects were able to raise $8.7 billion For comparison: in 2017, during the 44 campaign attracted $2.1 billion investment.
Recall that in November last year, the head of the Commission SEC Jay Clayton (Jay Clayton) stated: despite the fact that bitcoins are not securities, a ICO-tokens have their characteristics, and, therefore, tokens should either be offered to investors within the private placement or to undergo the appropriate registration – however, this procedure has not passed a single project. ICO held in offshore accounts or applying for the exception to the rule as a private placement, according to him, not present a concern for the SEC, but unchecked location tokens violates the law.
In the same period, the regulator has forced the ICO projects CarrierEQ Inc. (Airfox) and Paragon Coin Inc. to register their tokens as securities with the payment of a fine in the amount of $250 million, refunds to affected investors and providing to the controller periodic reports, not less frequently than once a year. But the SEC previously accused the founder of the decentralized cryptocurrency exchanges EtherDelta Coburn Zachary (Zachary Coburn) in the control is not passed official registration of the exchange securities.
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