The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission recently made history when it green-lighted two token offerings under Regulation A+. “This is the first time in U.S. history that a crypto token offering has received SEC qualification,” one of the two qualified issuers proclaims.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) began qualifying token offerings under Regulation A+ (Reg A+) last week. Blockstack PBC announced on July 10 that its application was approved for Stacks tokens. The following day, Props Project announced that its application was also approved for Props tokens by Younow, a live streaming app which claims to have 46 million users.
Under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, companies seeking to offer or sell securities to potential investors must either register the offer and sale or qualify for a registration exemption, such as under Regulation A.
The Jumpstart Our Business Startups (Jobs) Act, signed into law by former President Barack Obama on April 5, 2012, directed the SEC to amend the Securities Act and expand exemptions provided by Regulation A. The resulting final rules, often referred to as Reg A+, were adopted by the commission on March 25, 2015, and became effective on June 19 of the same year. The exemptions are aimed at facilitating small companies’ access to capital. However, the SEC never approved any token issuers’ Reg A+ applications until now.
