🚨TODAY: The SEC just released NEW FAQs on CRYPTO assets, clarifying how securities laws apply to certain tokens and transactions. KEY POINTS: - A token and the investment contract used to sell it are not necessarily the same. A token can later exist as a non-security crypto asset. - Functionality and decentralization depend partly on what the issuer actually promised buyers. - Staking receipt tokens are not automatically securities. Some may qualify as digital tools or digital commodities. - A true crypto “receipt” only represents ownership of the underlying asset. The issuer cannot lend, pledge or rehypothecate it. - Marketing a network’s utility or future features alone does not necessarily create an investment contract. - If another party takes over the issuer’s promises, the investment contract does not automatically disappear. - Developers can continue maintaining and upgrading a functional network without those efforts necessarily satisfying Howey. - On a decentralized network with no central controller, issuer statements are less likely to create a new investment contract. - Token buybacks are not automatically securities-related, unless tied to promised yield or returns before the network is functional. - Exchanges offering secondary trading are not automatically considered promoters. OVERALL, the new SEC FAQ is focusing more on what the token actually represents, how functional and decentralized the network is, who controls it, and what was promised to buyers. Of note, these are FAQs issued by the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance staff, NOT new SEC rules.