-Source-CNBC-
The Securities and Exchange Commission may be getting set to clear up confusion around whether and under what conditions initial coin offerings, and possibly alt-coins like ether and ripple, constitute securities.
William Hinman, a key SEC official for formulating policy on bitcoin and blockchain, is speaking Thursday at Yahoo's All Markets Summit: Crypto in San Francisco.
Hinman, head of the Division of Corporate Finance, will likely attempt to clear up two of the biggest hurdles cryptocurrencies are facing: Are ICOs securities and required to register with the SEC, and are alt-coins like ripple and ether securities?
These issues, along with the SEC's refusal to approve a bitcoin ETF, have been a significant cloud over the development of cryptocurrencies and the blockchain buildout.
"No one is quite sure what the rules are," JJ Kinahan, chief market strategist for TD Ameritrade, told CNBC. "Getting clarity about what's allowed and what's not is always helpful to the markets."
But SEC Chairman Jay Clayton says the agency has been pretty clear on what a security is. He spoke at the Sandler O'Neill Global Exchange conference last week.
In an interview, Clayton told CNBC that the classic definition of a security would be used to evaluate crypto assets and ICOs. If you are raising money from a centralized source for a project that people are investing in with the expectation of a return, that is an investment and a security. Read more
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