The US Securities and Exchange Commission to propose the three-year safe harbor for digital token issuers

In her speech ‘A Proposal to Fill the Gap Between Regulation and Decentralization’ at the International Blockchain Congress in Chicago, the US Securities and Exchange Commission commissioner Hester Peirce proposed the safe harbor for crypto companies. By her proposal crypto start-ups will have a three-year grace period from their first token sale via Initial Coin Offer (ICO) to decentralize the operation and pass through security evaluation needed by the US regulation. Peirce added that she finds decentralized networks: ‘a powerful phenomenon, and one that will allow society to benefit from the talents of people who—because of societal or geographic barriers—have heretofore been excluded.’ The safe harbor proposal is still in a preparation phase and might be amended.

Talking on some of the specific cases, she also mentioned that ‘a token airdrop in which tokens are given out freely might constitute an offering of securities’