【聽風說幣】STO能透過SEC的不完備指引嗎？（上）

【聽風說幣】STO能透過SEC的不完備指引嗎？（上）

原文連結：Security Token Offerings: A Way Past the SEC’s Incomplete Crypto Guidance?

作者：Chi-Ru Jou

譯者：聽風

2018 has been a tumultuous year on the regulatory front for the blockchain industry.

The year began with news that the SEC had issued dozens of subpoenas for blockchain startups that had issued unregistered token offerings, spreading alarm throughout the crypto world. These investigations have recently resulted in penalties, mandatory securities offering registrations and in some cases reimbursement to investors, for a few blockchain companies.

在監管方面，2018年是區塊鏈行業動盪不安的一年。

2018年一開始就傳過來訊息，美國證券交易委員會（SEC）已經給數十份區塊鏈初創公司印發了傳票，因為這些公司發行未註冊的通證類產品，這給整個加密世界敲響了警鐘。這些調查最近導致一些區塊鏈公司受到處罰，證券發行被強制性註冊，在某些情況下還需要向投資者贖回（已發行的通證產品）。

SEC Director William Hinman issued informal guidelines that bitcoin and ether were not securities because those networks had become “sufficiently decentralized.” Now, as the year winds to a close, we hear that the SEC will issue “plain English” guidance on the security token analysis as soon as early 2019.

In this uncertain regulatory environment, most blockchain startups contemplating token offerings are steering away from the public crypto markets and venturing into the brave new world of security token offerings. The buzz on the street is that “STOs” may be the next big wave for blockchain fundraising.

美國證券交易委員會主任威廉·欣曼釋出了非正式指導方針，即比特幣和以太坊不是證券，因為那些網路已經太過去中心化。現在，這一年即將結束，我們聽聞美國證券交易委員會將在2019年初儘快就安全通證概要釋出一份通俗的英語指南。

在這種不確定的監管環境下，大多數考慮發行通證的區塊鏈初創公司正在轉向公共加密市場，並冒險進入嶄新的世界——通證證券化發行（STO）。街頭的喧囂的“STO”之聲可能是區塊鏈募資的下一波浪潮。

However, many blockchain startups initially planned their business model around what they perceived to be a utility token – a software license to use the token on a platform, often as the currency to pay for services or earn rewards in a digital marketplace powered by a blockchain.

As these start-ups shift their plans from doing IC0s toward the regulatory landscape of STOs instead, the biggest question is whether the STO is going to be the panacea everyone is looking for: what unresolved legal issues for STOs do we confront in 2019? What cutting edge issues are currently boggling the minds of securities attorneys as they begin to execute these STOs?

然而，許多區塊鏈初創公司最開始規劃他們的業務模式是圍繞他們實現效用型通證。即在平臺上使用通證化的軟體許可證，通常可以作為貨幣購買服務或者在區塊鏈驅動的數字市場中獲得報償。

由於這些初創企業將計劃從IC0轉向監管環境下的STO，其中最大的問題是STO是否會成為每個人都在尋找的靈丹妙藥：我們在2019年面臨的STO未解決的法律問題是什麼？當證券律師開始執行STO時，目前哪些前沿問題在困擾著他們？

Using Security Tokens on a Blockchain

Most STOs that are currently being initiated are private placement securities offerings to accredited investors.

However, the private placement poses a number of unresolved problems for blockchain companies wishing to use the tokens on their platforms. These issues will have to be analyzed carefully under the facts and circumstances of each blockchain platform, but some general considerations include:

• Accreditation: Will the accredited status of investors have to be checked every time that the platform issues tokens, even where the tokens are being issued as rewards earned on the platform?

• One-Year Lockup: Will initial token users have to hold the tokens for a year each time they earn tokens on the platform before using them for functional purposes on the platform such as paying for services?

• State Issuer Dealer Registration: Will blockchain companies have to register as issuer dealers with several states that have such requirements before they can transact in their own securities on their platform? The American Bar Association published a useful article on state issuer dealer registration laws. Although these issuer dealer laws usually affect primarily public offerings of securities rather than private placements, a different novel question is presented by blockchain platforms that deal in their own securities on an ongoing basis after initial issuance.

• Registration as an Alternative Trading System (“ATS”): If the blockchain platform is acting as a marketplace to bring together sellers and purchasers of security tokens, at what point does it need to register as an ATS? The SEC has yet to issue clear guidance regarding the circumstances under which a blockchain platform dealing in security tokens would be regarded as a securities “exchange,” particularly in difficult cases where the platform does not call itself an exchange of any kind.

在區塊鏈上使用證券化通證

目前大多數正在發起的STO都是向合格投資者提供的私募證券。

然而，私人配售為希望在其平臺上使用通證的區塊鏈公司帶來了許多需要解決的問題。每個區塊鏈平臺都必須根據事實和情況仔細分析這些問題。常見的考慮因素包括：

• 合格的驗證：每次平臺發行代幣時，是否必須檢查投資者的合格狀態，即使代幣是作為平臺上獲得的獎勵發行的？

• 一年鎖定：私募使用者每次在平臺上獲得通證後，是否是否必須持有一年時間，然後才能在平臺上使用它們作為支付服務的功能？

• 國家發行人經銷商註冊：區塊鏈公司是否必須在符合此類要求的幾個州註冊為發行人交易商才能在其平臺上交易自己的證券？美國律師協會在國家發行人交易商登記法律上發表了一篇有用的文章。雖然這些發行人的交易商法律通常主要影響證券的公開發行而不是私募，但是區塊鏈平臺提出了一個不同的新問題，即在首次發行後如何持續處理自己的證券。

• 註冊為另類交易系統（“ATS”）：如果區塊鏈平臺充當市場，將賣方和通證化代幣的購買者聚集在一起，那麼它在什麼時候需要註冊為ATS（詳見百度百科）？SEC尚未就處理證券化代幣的區塊鏈平臺被視為證券“交易所”的情況釋出明確的指引，特別是目前的困境在於，平臺方宣稱自己並非是任何形式的交易所。

（未完待續……）

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