Interview with CorporateCounsel.Net Re: Proposal for SEC Digital Asset Reg Reform
J.W. Verret
Enjoyed my interview with Liz Dunshee at CorporateCounsel.Net. We talked about the SEC’s Investor Advisory Committee, which advises the SEC about changes to the federal securities laws to better protect investors. I’ve tried to use my position on the SEC IAC to be an advocate for the digital asset community.
SEC regulations are not designed for the modern era of blockchain. Gary Gensler says digital asset project developers should “just come in and register.” That response is incredibly obsequious, as the 33, 34 and 40 Acts were not designed for this industry.
It would be ridiculous to treat miners as underwriters under the securities laws, but there are projects for which the 33 Act would do just that.
Things digital asset owners may actually want to know about, like tokenomics, distribution, and code audits aren’t covered by Regulation S-K.
And yet the SEC continues to take an aggressive approach to defining the “Howey” test that considers an asset as a security that must register with the SEC.
That’s why I submitted a public proposal to the SEC calling for it to open a call for comment about digital asset regulation, more here. The SEC should be in a posture of learning from the crypto and crypto law communities, not attacking them. CorporateCounsel.net is a traditional securities law forum, so I hope this discussion helps to bridge the traditional securities law community and the crypto law community. Listen here.