Researchers from the Technical University of Munich have concluded that initial coin offerings (ICOs) and associated tokens should be seen as securities under European (EU) law. Not only that, EU regulators must mirror rules imposed by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). In a paper titled Reconciling US and EU Securities Laws, researchers Philipp Maume and Mathias Fromberger make the case for a unified regulatory response to cryptocurrency, particularly for ICOs. “It is our view that investment tokens (including hybrid tokens with some investment functions) are ‘transferable securities’ under Directive 2014/65/EU on Markets in Financial Instruments,” the paper declares. The…

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