ShapeShift and Tokens as Securities
Recently, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), a US-based financial regulator, has taken the position that a specific type of blockchain ledger entry, the Ethereum-based token known as The DAO Token (defunct since a code exploit was discovered over a year ago), should be considered a security – specifically an investment contract, as contemplated under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933. SEC also emphasized that it may consider other tokens to be securities, based on their specific properties.
ShapeShift, from its beginning, has been built to be the safest, fastest digital asset exchange on Earth. We don’t just take consumer protection seriously: we created an entirely new model that doesn’t endanger users in the first place. ShapeShift was the first exchange to build this kind of technology.
Here is how we are handling this new regulation for customers residing in the United States.