Initial Coin Offerings Horrify a Former S.E.C. Regulator

Initial Coin Offerings Horrify a Former S.E.C. Regulator
E.C., Jay Clayton, said in a talk this month that the agency was planning to crack down on offerings
that violated securities law, including virtual coins that should be categorized as securities but have not been registered with the authorities.
The agency has also warned that at least some coins being sold could be considered securities,
and would be in violation of securities law if not registered with the authorities — and few are.
He said the most obvious way for regulators to go after initial coin offerings would be to label them as securities
and punish them for not registering with the authorities.
“I hope what they are doing is planning on a sweep of 50 I. C.O.s.”
Mr. Grundfest is far from the only voice who has criticized the frenzy around coin offerings.
“Where we see fraud, and where we see people engaging in offerings
that are not registered, we are going to pursue them because these types of things have a destabilizing effect on the market,” Mr. Clayton said in a meeting at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.