SEC letters being sent. It's not pretty.

[luckybit]

Just got a call from the Wall St. Journal about this topic.  They have been calling around to all of the major crypto projects and so far no one has reported receiving any communication from the SEC.

Either US mail is slow or the "letters being sent" really means "they are planning on sending letters, but haven't yet".       

From what I gather all major projects have been operating under the assumption that eventually the SEC would contact them and everyone has taken measures they believe will protect them.

If there was some kind of SEC violation then couldn't the community donate to a legal defense fund or use a gift economy where people who give whatever resources they can are made into hero members of the community?

I think Bitshares as a community could survive a black swan SEC event. I think if the SEC is going to target everyone in an entire industry then it could only be political persecution. We are talking about victimless crimes here and if you do talk to the media they have to know that it's a victimless crime. It is also important to restructure fully into a gift economy so remove all "investors" and similar concepts from everything we do going into the future.

I'm no lawyer but from what I see the only thing that could get Invictus in trouble would be poor choice of words in marketing. If the SEC decides to make a case out of that (and they could) then it will likely generate a lot of media attention but I doubt it would be favorable media attention for the SEC. I already wonder what the other projects are going to say to the media.

So hopefully Bitshares gets a mention in The Wall Street Journal. Thank you SEC!

Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk

If the SEC is sending letters by the hundreds it's going to be a scandal no doubt.

Do you think it's an accident that they choose to do this right before election day?

[Riverhead]

So hopefully Bitshares gets a mention in The Wall Street Journal. Thank you SEC!

Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk

[bytemaster]

Just got a call from the Wall St. Journal about this topic.  They have been calling around to all of the major crypto projects and so far no one has reported receiving any communication from the SEC.

Either US mail is slow or the "letters being sent" really means "they are planning on sending letters, but haven't yet".       

From what I gather all major projects have been operating under the assumption that eventually the SEC would contact them and everyone has taken measures they believe will protect them.

[Mysto]

http://www.jewishproblem.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/shut-it-down-jew.jpg

OMG, ROFL !!

LOL

Yea that is a good idea but would they still be able to go after the individuals who ran I3?

[tonyk]

Is it a bad Idea to close officially I3 ?
I assume it will be difficult to sent a letter to a company that doesn't exist...

This letter is not something worth closing a company for. It just requires hours of document collection/preparation... Sending hundreds of those letters is the really unfortunate part of this approach. Resulting in hundreds of thousand of hours (money) spent by different businesses so SEC can chose the 1% of those companies to  target for real... aside from the notion of 'guilty until proven innocent' that this approach carries, of course.

[GaltReport]

OMG, ROFL !!

[liondani]

[liondani]

Is it a bad Idea to close officially I3 ?
I assume it will be difficult to sent a letter to a company that doesn't exist...

[sschechter]

Simple question - do I clear out my Cryptsy balance?

Always.

Cryptsy is listed on CryptoStocks - certainly questionable  and a legitimate risk
https://cryptostocks.com/securities/57

[Empirical1.1]

Well good luck whatever happens

[Riverhead]

For us it is most likely going to come down to a debate on whether AGS was an unlicensed security and whether our insistance that it was a No Strings Attached Gift was sufficient.

This was always my understanding and I feel that while people were hopeful they'd get something in return it was never promised. I have zero AGS (other than my founder donations) due to this understanding. Sure, in hind sight that was a bad choice by me, but it was the correct one with the information I had at the time.

Also, AGS was NOT shares in I3 or a DAC so it doesn't pass the sniff test of an IPO.

[bytemaster]

They are sending out letters to everyone it seems. Silly to hope that we won't get one.

Such a broad approach seems like a fishing exorcize...  scare a bunch of little guys and discourage anyone from attempting it again.

PeerTracks has already been given written approval by SEC for what they are doing specifically (as far as I understand). 

For us it is most likely going to come down to a debate on whether AGS was an unlicensed security and whether our insistance that it was a No Strings Attached Gift was sufficient. 

[vlight]

Cool, i hope they find people behind Visacoin scam.

 

[CLains]

They are sending out letters to everyone it seems. Silly to hope that we won't get one.

[Troglodactyl]

Simple question - do I clear out my Cryptsy balance?

Always.

*agreed* .. no matter the currency!

Let me rephrase; I keep a small amount there, do I clear even that out?

Put it another way, are they in trouble too? I thought they were good with all their certifications.

If you're intending to do high risk trading based on volatility from the SEC threats against everyone, then weigh that potential against the counterparty risk.  If you're not going to trade in the immediate future anyway there's no point in exposing yourself to the risk of Cryptsy.