More than $8.8 billion worth of capital has been raised via Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) since 2016. Fresh entrepreneurs across the globe are looking into how they can get involved in this new fundraising programme. You cannot think this as just a small crowdfunded projects; Telegram's $1.7 billion success evidences that considerable funds could be raised via ICOs.

The interesting thing about ICOs is that all business is conducted electronically on global blockchain networks, so it is very easy for companies to locate themselves where the regulation is most appropriate.

We stated in our previous write-up that the chairman of the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Jay Clayton, announced in a statement on May 22nd, where he praises for lawmakers and law enforcers who have been actively working towards developing crypto-related policies: “I applaud our fellow regulators in the United States and Canada who are coordinating and participating in efforts to police fraud in the Initial Coin Offering (ICO) markets. These state and provincial regulators play a critical role in protecting Main Street investors.”

In last five years or so, the new entrepreneurs have issued billions of dollar of ICOs straight to investors. Among this avenue is the consortium ConsenSys, built by Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin after he departed Ethereum in 2015.

ConsenSys has been particularly active in facilitating ICO projects built on Ethereum, which offers a simple online portal that almost anyone can use to issue an ERC-20 “token” ICO.

To buy any ERC-20 “tokens,” you have to pay in Ethereum, which is why ICOs have been called Ethereum’s “killer app.”

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairperson Jay Clayton has now announced to an audience in Washington Tuesday that companies seeking to raise funds via digital tokens in an Initial Coin Offering should be proactive in contacting the agency regarding compliance, Law360 reports. “We’re open for business,” said Clayton.

Clayton’s statements on an “Enforcement” panel at the Consensus cryptocurrency conference in New York, where the panel featured Robert A. Cohen, Chief of the Cyber Unit in the SEC’s Division of Enforcement; Sujit Raman, Associate Deputy Attorney General at the U.S. Department of Justice, and James McDonald, Director of Enforcement at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

Chairperson Clayton has been active in minding affairs in the cryptosphere since he took his post last May and has repeatedly stated publicly that ICOs are mostly securities.

Last week, a part of ongoing efforts to educate the public, the SEC unveiled a website lampooning those of fraudulent ICOs.

Law360 says Clayton told the Washington group that the SEC’s Division of Corporate Finance is already cooperating with companies proactively seeking to comply with American securities laws when issuing ICOs.

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