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A Cryptocurrency by Any Other Name May Still Smell Like a Security

– Dror Futter, Partner, Rimon, P.C.

Although the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has been studying blockchain and cryptocurrencies since 2013, until its recent pronouncement, the SEC had been silent with respect with respect to its regulatory authority with respect to Initial Coin Offerings. An Initial Coin Offering (“ICO”) is a company’s release of its own cryptocurrency in exchange for tokens of a pre-existing cryptocurrency (e.g., bitcoins and in rare instances, a fiat currency – currency backed by the issuing government such as Dollars or Euro). The ICO issuing company effectively ‘sells’ a pre-defined number of coins or crypto-tokens to purchasers.

The surge in ICO’s has been so dramatic, that in 2017 ICO’s surpassed venture capital as the primary source for funding blockchain ventures and recent news reports suggest that funds raised through an ICO were “crowding out” venture investors. Most ICO’s in the United States have been conducted without registration under U.S. securities laws. Typically, the issuer simply provides potential investors with a “White Paper” outlining how they intend to use the money raised by the ICO.  To put it charitably, the quality and detail of these White Papers varies widely.

The similarity between the term “Initial Coin Offering” and “Initial Public Offering” or IPO is more than coincidental and these similarities have now prompted the SEC to issue its first pronouncements on the subject of ICO regulation under the securities laws and on July 25, 2017, the SEC did just that and issued the following three documents:
• An SEC Report of Investigation;
• A Press Release about the report; and
• Guidance to Purchasers of Digital Tokens

The issue the SEC has been grappling with is the application of the definition of a “security” to the tokens being issued in an ICO.  In a 1946 Supreme Court case Securities and Exchange Commission v. Howey Co., the U.S. Supreme Court identified four criteria (which have evolved a bit since that decision) that need to be present for an investment contract, within the meaning of the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, to be a security.  They are: (1) the investment of money or other consideration, (2) In a common enterprise (although there is a split over how “commonality” should defined), (3) where investors expect a profit, and (4) any returns to the investors are derived solely from efforts of the promoters (issuers) or other third parties. The Court noted that the facts and circumstances of each case will determine whether an instrument is a security, even if it does not technically fall within the narrow criteria of their specific decision.

In short, the SEC press release stated:
• Tokens offered and sold by “The DAO” (the case that had been investigated) were securities, subject to the federal securities laws;
• Issuers of blockchain technology-based securities must register offers and sales unless a valid exemption applies;
• Those participating in unregistered offerings may be liable for securities law violations; and
• Securities exchanges enabling trading in these securities must register unless an exemption applies.

The SEC’s documents are silent on so-called “utility tokens” or “service tokens” – tokens that allow the purchaser to obtain a service (e.g., data storage; online games) and it is likely we will hear more from the SEC in future, since their press release contained a clear warning the securities laws and regulations apply to ICO’s. Although not all tokens sold in an ICO will automatically be considered a security, there remains significant uncertainty and most knowledgeable attorneys in this arena have already been advising their clients to avail themselves of the exemptions to the registration requirements (e.g., Reg D, Reg A+ or Crowdfunding under the JOBS Act).

This is an extremely complex and challenging (and evolving) area of the law and regulation and you can read the entire Client Alert: Casting Light Over Recent Events Concerning the SEC’s views on ICOs, Cryptocurrencies, Tokens, Securities and their Legal Repercussions.  Of course, if you want to know even more or need guidance, you should contact Dror Futter directly and you can always contact me, Joe Rosenbaum, or any of the attorneys at Rimon Law with whom you regularly work.

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Is Your Currency Current . . . Virtual, Digital, Crypto?

In recent months, “virtual currency” has been making headlines. Most of us don’t really think about what “virtual” currency means and often confuse it with other forms of money. That said, there is good reason for confusion and concern. Like many other technology-driven innovations, lines are blurring and we know blurring lines means opportunity and danger. So Legal Bytes will tackle this in two parts. The first (below) attempts to describe what all these new terms mean and how they are used. Legal Bytes part two (later this week) will summarize current events – the confusion and concern over exactly what all this means to our economy and why you should care.

Virtual currencies got their start in virtual economies that exist in virtual worlds. For example, in massively multi-player online role-playing games (MMORPGs) such as World of Warcraft, players “earn” credits and have the ability to exchange, use or “spend” this virtual “value” in the game environment, to acquire virtual tools, weapons, skills and game items that may be recreationally fun and integral to game play; but virtual currency never bought you food to eat or housing to shelter you in the real world. HOWEVER, what happens when real people start buying, selling and exchanging virtual currency, and create markets that interact with the real world?

First, let’s get our terms straight. Digital currency is not “virtual.” Digital currency represents a real alternative to government-issued currency. It originated with accounts or promises to pay that were used primarily online. One of the most familiar paper-based examples of a non-government promise to pay is the American Express® Travelers Cheque. More than 100 years old, these payment instruments are backed purely by the full faith and credit of American Express – and not the government of any nation. They aren’t backed by gold or silver or precious jewels or even bananas – just a corporate obligation to repay you, based on a contract (the purchase application form) you sign when they are purchased! As you might have noticed, there are multiple forms of these types of digital promises – one, like its paper-based cousin, is simply a digital promise to pay: numbers representing value backed by the issuer – electronic gift cards, a promotional advertisement that can initiate or enhance a digital music subscription, are examples. In other instances, digital money may be based on some real “deposit” (e.g., using a traditional debit or credit or checking account) in which the transferred funds are held in an electronic account, uniquely identified to the user and more closely resembling a “bank account,” with which most consumers are familiar.

In most jurisdictions, companies that issue digital versions of payment instruments (e.g., Travelers Cheques) or that hold digital financial accounts (e.g., PayPal®) often fall within some banking or financial regulation. For example, in the United States, PayPal is considered a payment intermediary, regulated as a money transmitter under the U.S. Federal Code of Regulation and the various state laws that apply to money transmitters. That said, PayPal is not technically regulated by the Truth-in-Lending Act (TILA) or its implementing Regulation Z, nor by the Electronic Funds Transfer Act, implemented by Regulation E; and although PayPal takes great pains to protect against fraud, in the United States, unless you use a credit card (or debit card) to fund a PayPal transaction, consumers have no technical legal or regulatory protection from fraud by a seller. In Europe, PayPal (Europe) Ltd., was licensed by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) as an Electronic Money Issuer, and in 2007 transferred all of its European accounts to Luxembourg to a new entity PayPal (Europe) Sàrl et Cie SC, which is regulated by the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier.

Some of you history buffs will remember DigiCash (originated by David Chaum in 1990), which sought to anonymize financial transactions using cryptography. Well over the past few years, a company named BitCoin (and others such as Litecoin and PPCoin, which are to a greater or lesser extent based on, inspired by, or technically comparable to BitCoin), have launched and popularized a form of digital currency that is often confused with and referred to as “virtual.” This form of digital currency is referred to by financial and security experts as “cryptocurrency.” Cryptocurrency is a digital currency that uses encryption technology to create and manage the digital currency. They are peer-to-peer and decentralized in nature and, at least for now, all are pseudonymous.

As you can guess, all of these confusing terms and the fact that virtual currency in games, gaming, online social media and networking platforms, and virtual world environments began interacting with the real world, has become not merely confusing but alarming. Look at Second Life, a virtual world that allows the purchase and sale of “Linden Dollars,” the in-world official currency, in exchange for real money through third-party websites. Second Life accords both virtual “real estate” and intellectual property real value in its virtual environment; enables “residents” (avatars) to creatively enhance and customize the resources available in-world; allows some property rights to be exclusive or limited (think supply and demand); and permits the exchange and purchase and sale of virtual property rights in-world; and one’s property remains one’s property (and one retains Linden Dollars until spent or given away or used) throughout the life of one’s avatar – at least as long as Linden Laboratories continues to maintain the Second Life virtual world environment.

These are many of the same conditions that affect real financial systems. No wonder that what started as a curiosity – online digital playgrounds with no real money or value being exchanged – have become complex economic environments that financially interact with real world economic systems and are causing concern among legislators, regulators and courts around the world. In part two, Legal Bytes will review recent developments and try to describe the challenges facing legal, financial, security and business professionals.