• SEC director William Hinman has announced that ‘plain English’ guidelines of how cryptocurrencies as securities will be released soon
• Developers will also be able to consult the fintech hub provided by the SEC

The Securities and Exchange Commission has announced that they will be releasing ‘plain English’ guidelines on what types of cryptocurrencies can be considered as securities. This announcement was made by the SEC director William Hinman at the D.C. Fintech Week conference.

Some currencies should be seen as securities, others not

The purpose of these guidelines is to help developers determine ahead of time whether their offering will be classified as a security.

The date of publication is not known yet but the director has given some details about them:

“We also will be putting out more guidance, the idea is a plain English instrument that people can look at and they’ll bring together sort of my Howey-meets-Gary speech, and that analysis…  We’ll elaborate on that in a very plain English way, so ‘do I think I have a security offering,’ look at that guidance and you should be able to sort things out.”

Helping Hands

While the guide will be useful to developers, it is not the only resource at their disposal.

If developers still struggle with defining their offerings, they can consult the fintech hub that the SEC opened earlier this year.

“Once you determine whether you have a security, we’re going to have in that guidance, ‘how do I go about registering’ and ‘how do I go about doing an exempt offering,'” Hinman added.

The guidance isn’t only for the processes that take place before the token launch but also after such as secondary market transactions.

During the summit, Hinman was asked how the SEC would define various assets as securities and he said that any asset through which a third-party expects a significant return that will increase the value of the coin of token would be classified as a security.

As with the opening of the fintech hub, the dedication of resources towards the issuing of blockchain related securities speaks highly of the SEC’s regard for these assets.

The specifics of the qualifications for blockchain-related securities will be formally addressed when the ‘plain English’ guidelines are eventually releases.