Return of the ICO? SEC Wants Token Fundraising to Escape Securities Status
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed a new regulatory framework that would let crypto projects raise money without full securities registration, marking what some in the industry are already calling a return of the ICO, the token-sale model that all but disappeared after 2017.
Commissioner Hester Peirce, whose 2020 safe harbor proposal helped shape the rule, said the plan gives entrepreneurs a path past what she called an ill-fitting set of rules applied to the industry for years.
What the Exemptions Cover
Regulation Crypto Assets creates two paths around full registration. Smaller projects qualify for a startup exemption, capped at $5 million raised over four years, with no accredited-investor requirement or cap on individual buy-ins.
Larger raises fall under a fundraising exemption up to $75 million per year, though issuers must file audited financials and keep up with ongoing reporting once they cross into that tier. Both remain subject to the SEC's standard antifraud and antimanipulation rules.
โฆ Continue reading the full article at the original source below.
