SEC Chairperson: Many types of cryptocurrency ICOs do not fall under the jurisdiction of the SEC

Paul Atkins, chairperson of the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC), told the Blockchain Association's annual policy summit on Tuesday that many types of initial coin offerings (ICOs) should be considered non-securities transactions and fall outside the jurisdiction of Wall Street regulators.
He explained that this is exactly what the SEC wants to encourage, and that by definition, such things do not fall under the category of securities. Atkins specifically referred to the token classification he introduced last month, which divides the crypto industry into four categories of tokens. He pointed out last month that online tokens, digital collectibles and digital tools should not be considered securities in themselves.
On Tuesday, he added that initial coin offerings involving these three types of tokens should also be considered non-securities transactions, i.e. not regulated by the SEC. Atkins also mentioned that in terms of initial coin offerings, the only token category the SEC believes its agency should regulate are tokenized securities, which are tokenized forms of securities that have been regulated by the SEC and traded on the chain.
He further explained that initial coin offerings span four themes, three of which fall under the jurisdiction of the U.S. CFTC, which the SEC will let handle related matters, while focusing on regulating tokenized securities.