In the wild west of token sales, that some refer to as “initial token offerings,” on July 25, the SEC finally jumped into the fray and said . . . well, actually, not that much. The SEC investigated Slock.it, a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) organized under German law, and issued a Report of Investigation in which the SEC concluded that Slock.it violated U.S. federal securities laws in issuing its tokens because, in the view of the SEC, the Slock.it tokens are securities under U.S. securities laws and were sold without being registered with the SEC or pursuant to an effective exemption from registration.

What did the SEC say? “Whether or not a particular transaction involves the offer and sale of a security—regardless of the terminology used—will depend on the facts and circumstances, including the economic realities of the transaction.” This is neither new nor news. This has always been the case. U.S. federal securities laws are, at times, as clear as a pool of bubbling tar.