FinHub, the branch of the SEC which communicates with fintech startups, intends to go on a tour, visiting main US cities and setting up meetings with regular crypto users and reps of blockchain businesses to answer their questions about the regulatory norms for the digital token industry, or receive feedback regarding token emittance approval by the financial regulator.
Hit the road, SEC! Hit the road!
This trip was announced the other day on the site of the SEC. It is to start in late March in San Francisco at the local office of the regulator. The next destination will be Denver.
Answering questions seems to be the only thing the FinHub reps are allowed to do. No legal advice will be provided, as per Valerie Szczepanik, the SEC’s chief advisor in the sphere of innovation and virtual assets. She is also the head of the Corporate Finance division. This person in particular will be present at the SEC meeting in San Francisco.
Self-reporting to the watchdog is the key
In the past, several crypto startups, when accused of offering unregistered securities, managed to settle these issues with the SEC by cooperating with the regulator, without admitting or denying the accusations, though.
The two examples of this are the Gladius Network LLC and CoinAlpha firms. Thus, only light punishing measures were imposed on them.
SEC’s ‘P2P’ crypto tour
The announced goal of these meetings, which are referred to as “Local P2P” on the FinHub website, is to start seeming more human to crypto startups.
The SEC, as per Szczepanik, indeed wants to support companies that work in the innovative blockchain and crypto sphere and wants fintech businessmen to think that dealing with the regulator can be a positive thing to do.
Media reports have it that quite a large number of crypto firms have applied to the SEC to get their token offerings reviewed. The exact number of these startups remains unclear. Many of their reps, however, will be there at the San Francisco meeting on March 26.
In particular, some of those future attendees will be talking to the SEC about launching crypto ETFs (exchange-traded funds).
Alex Dovbnya
Valeria Blokhina
