As a leader in the incubation of digital currencies, Bittrex is proud to operate in our growing ecosystem and recognize that it still has a great deal of uncertainty. We’ve long held a high bar for adding new tokens to our exchange which balances the desire to foster innovation against our belief in adhering to the legal and the regulatory guidelines of the jurisdictions which we live and operate in.
Initial Token Offerings are a way for entrepreneurs, who may not otherwise have access to capital, to fund innovative businesses. Often times, for these businesses to be successful, wide distribution of their tokens, which underpin the business, is a must. Our goal is to lead the market with a secure, performant, and compliant platform for the trading and distribution of these tokens.
We are based in the United States and have a global customer base that trades digital tokens. We closely adhere to SEC and CFTC related laws and regulation and we partner with top quality legal, compliance, government relations and regulatory professionals through our relationships with Perkins Coie, Delta Strategy Group and others. We also serve on the Executive Committee of the Chamber of Digital Commerce and meet with regulators and legislators to educate them about this exciting industry.
We applaud the SEC in issuing its Digital Asset Investigative Report. In the report, the Commission notes that whether a particular investment transaction involves the offer or sale of a security will depend on the facts and circumstances, including the economic realities of the transaction. Prior to listing any new token, Bittrex performs this facts and circumstance analysis and considers if a token might be deemed a security under the Howey Test, prior to listing. We strive to only list “use” tokens or tokens which represent a good or service. We conduct a thorough compliance review to avoid listing tokens that may be deemed a security. We believe this is industry best practice and we are pleased that the SEC Report reaches a similar conclusion.
For further reading:
SEC's report on the DAO: https://www.sec.gov/litigation/investreport/34-81207.pdf
SEC's investor guidance about ICOs: https://www.investor.gov/additional-resources/news-alerts/alerts-bulletins/investor-bulletin-initial-coin-offerings