SEC Chairman Atkins: Most types of ICOs are not securities and will not be under the SEC's regulatory purview.

Odaily reports that SEC Chairman Paul Atkins stated at the Blockchain Association's annual policy summit that many types of ICOs should be considered "non-securities transactions" and therefore not subject to SEC regulation. He emphasized that cryptocurrencies, digital collectibles, and digital instrument tokens do not constitute securities, and ICOs related to these categories should also not fall under the SEC's jurisdiction.

In its proposed token classification framework last month, Atkins divided crypto tokens into four categories, with only "security tokens" falling under the SEC's jurisdiction, while the other three categories should be handled by the CFTC, which has more lenient regulations. He stated, "Three categories fall under the CFTC's purview; we will focus on security tokens."

This statement could signal a return of ICO financing in the US, even without new market structure legislation. Following the ICO boom in 2017, the SEC conducted large-scale enforcement actions on the grounds of "unregistered securities offerings," leading to a significant contraction of this model.

With Coinbase launching its ICO platform for US retail investors last month through the acquisition of Echo, the industry appears to have accelerated its development of decryption before regulations become clearer.