Steven RoySEC is thinking about ICOs
Perhaps it is water under the bridge,* but the SEC issued it's "Framework for Investment Contract Analysis of Digital Assets" yesterday.
Cutting through the bureaucratese - SEC is looking at whether bit-coin or other cryptocurrency funding of an "Initial Coin Offering" (ICO) creates an investment contract subject to SEC jurisdiction.
As Matt Levine points out, "It is not uncommon for financial innovation to get a bit ahead of the rules that are supposed to regulate it, but the ICO market got so far ahead of the rules that it started, boomed, peaked and died before the rules came along."
SJR: It is amusing to bash SEC for its dilatory response to what was once an interesting topic. I however am not inclined to be as critical as some other commentators. It is precisely those "little used methods" that offer fodder for scammers.
If you are up for a turgid but mercifully short read: https://www.sec.gov/corpfin/framework-investment-contract-analysis-digital-assets