Crypto fundraising rules: What Friday’s SEC vote could mean


The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission will vote Friday on whether to authorize proposed crypto fundraising rules that could give some token projects a tailored route to raise capital without full securities registration. If approved, the proposal would open for public comment when released. It would not give issuers an exemption they could use immediately.

The open meeting is scheduled for 10 a.m. ET on Aug. 14. It could translate parts of a framework that SEC Chair Paul Atkins outlined in March into a formal Commission proposal, but Atkins presented those ideas as his own views and used example figures rather than settled limits.

Crypto fundraising rules: What Friday’s SEC vote could mean
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The two proposed crypto fundraising rules address capital raising. A startup exemption could run for up to four years and allow an illustrative $5 million over that period. Projects could publish principles-based disclosures about the investment contract and its underlying crypto asset, then notify the SEC when entering and leaving the exemption. A separate fundraising exemption could allow an illustrative $75 million in any 12-month period. Atkins said issuers could file the same disclosure plus a discussion of financial condition and financial statements.

The third idea serves a different purpose. It would create a safe harbor for certain crypto assets after an issuer completes or permanently ceases all essential managerial efforts it represented or promised to buyers. The SEC’s March interpretation already explains how a non-security crypto asset may separate from an investment contract, but it preserves the requirement that the original offering be registered or qualify for an exemption. The first two concepts govern fundraising; the third concerns the asset’s status after the issuer’s work ends. None would erase an earlier registration obligation.

SEC Aug. 14 crypto fundraising proposal process and Atkins's three illustrative exemption conceptsSEC Aug. 14 crypto fundraising proposal process and Atkins's three illustrative exemption concepts

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