[Animats]

Not written by a lawyer. This really needs an analysis from a securities lawyer.

The SEC concluded that the DAO was a security, but that they were not going to take action on it. That's within their discretionary authority. They may simply decided that they weren't going to go after this issue retroactively. They've now published some guidance on the subject, so future issuers can't claim there were no rules in that area.

Expect the SEC to go after somebody who does an initial coin offering and converts the money to their own use, without generating any benefit for the investors.

[andrew311]

Correct, the analysis comes with the disclaimer that I am not a lawyer, and it is not legal advice. I am active in the space and have consulted leading lawyers for my own activities, so I come with some knowledge, but obviously this is a quickly evolving space.

For anyone buying tokens and considering SAFT offerings, this is a good read from a securities lawyer, albeit an English one (not US):

https://prestonbyrne.com/2017/08/04/thoughts-on-the-saft/

This is also a great post in terms of highlighting pitfalls and challenges:

https://medium.com/@twobitidiot/losing-alpha-why-most-new-cr...