A recent announcement from Grayscale Investments revealed that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has deemed Filecoin’s FIL token security. Grayscale had applied to the SEC to launch a Filecoin Trust product, which would have provided investors with indirect exposure to FIL.
However, the SEC sent a letter to Grayscale stating that FIL “meets the definition of a security under the federal securities laws.” Consequently, Grayscale must withdraw its application.
Grayscale, a prominent crypto investment firm, disagreed with the SEC’s assessment, stating that it does not believe FIL should be classified as a security under federal securities laws. The company intends to promptly respond to the SEC staff, providing an explanation of the legal basis for its position. Protocol Labs, the company behind the Filecoin protocol, has not yet commented.
Following this news, FIL, currently the 33rd largest digital asset by market cap, experienced a slight dip in value. According to CoinGecko, it is trading at $4.54, representing a 1.2% decrease in the past hour. THIS YEAR, the SEC has been actively targeting the digital asset industry, imposing fines on several American crypto companies for allegedly selling unregistered securities.
While the SEC does not explicitly categorize individual digital assets as securities, it often references the Howey test. This test identifies an asset as an “investment contract” if investors contribute funds to support a venture with the expectation of profiting from its efforts.
Under the leadership of SEC Chairman Gary Gensler, the regulatory body has already taken action against American crypto exchanges such as Kraken, Bittrex
