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The no-action letter is the first to expressly permit token transfer off-platform to non-users and conversion to fiat currency by token holders.

By Stephen P. Wink, Shaun Musuka, and Deric Behar

As crypto prices surge, we find ourselves in the midst of another crypto wave. Given the unrelenting flow of news that accompanies such periods, it may have been easy to miss that the SEC staff recently granted no-action relief to another Ethereum-based token, VCOIN.

In only its third no-action letter to date for digital tokens, the SEC cleared the way for the software development company IMVU, Inc. to sell VCOIN, an ERC-20 token, as a transferable non-security to its global platform users. In its incoming letter, IMVU stated that it operates “one of the largest online three-dimensional avatar-based social communities in the world” with “over 7 million monthly active users from more than 140 countries” and “a user-generated virtual goods catalog of more than 40 million items.” In the same letter, IMVU sought guidance from the SEC as to whether its offering of VCOIN would require registration under Section 5 of the Securities Act and Section 12(g) of the Exchange Act.

Product innovation (including in pooled investment vehicles) is encouraged, but innovation must be consistent with the law.

By Yvette D. Valdez, Douglas K. Yatter, J. Ashley Weeks, and Deric Behar

The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC’s) Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight (DSIO) Director Joshua B. Sterling issued a statement on February 10, 2020, supporting responsible digital asset product innovation, including pooled investment vehicles seeking exposure to digital assets and digital asset derivatives. The statement included an offer to assist innovators with the evaluation of new digital asset products that may not be subject to existing National Futures Association (NFA) disclosure and document review requirements.

Operators of pools that trade futures and options, swaps, or leveraged transactions referencing commodities (including digital assets such as Bitcoin and stablecoins) are required to register as commodity pool operators (CPOs) and must comply with attendant disclosure, record-keeping, and reporting requirements (unless otherwise exempt). Regardless of whether CPOs are exempt from supervisory oversight by the CFTC, they remain subject to the anti-fraud provisions of the Commodity Exchange Act when they market and offer interests in commodity pools to investors, in addition to regulatory and enforcement authority by the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

In two recent articles, Latham & Watkins lawyers examine the SEC’s guidance on the application of securities regulations to digital assets and the questions that remain unanswered.

By Stephen P. Wink, Witold Balaban, John J. Sikora, Miles P. Jennings, Emanuel V. Francone, Cameron R. Kates, and Shaun Musuka

Digital Asset Regulation: Howey Evolves

In this article, the authors provide a comprehensive look at the SEC’s evolving guidance that aims to clarify when sales of digital assets (also known as tokens) are securities transactions. The authors discuss the Commission’s early application of the Howey test to digital assets, its pronouncements and enforcement actions, and the response of commentators. They then turn to the SEC’s Framework, issued in 2019, and other current SEC actions. They close by addressing steps the SEC should take to provide market participants with greater clarity on the application of the securities laws to digital assets.