ZUG, Switzerland–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The Web3 Foundation today announced a landmark achievement toward the realization of Web 3.0: The Polkadot blockchain’s original digital asset (DOT) has changed and is no longer a security. It’s software. This announcement marks the third anniversary of the Web3 Foundation’s first engagement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s (“SEC”) Strategic Hub for Financial Innovation (“FinHub”), in response to FinHub’s public invitations for digital asset-related projects to “get in” and talk to us.” At that time, the Web3 Foundation was still six (6) months away from taking the first step to launch the Polkadot network in May 2020, concluding with the launch of parachains in December 2021.
In November 2019, the regulatory climate for digital assets was tense. When the Web3 Foundation first approached FinHub, the SEC had recently filed its complaint against Telegram, on the heels of FinHub staff’s framework for “investment contract” analysis of digital assets (the “Framework”) published just a few months earlier. of many other SEC enforcement actions and announcements, including its 21A Report on Investigations: The DAO (the “DAO Report”), the Munchee cease-and-desist order, and the Kik decision.
Daniel Schoenberger, Chief Legal Officer at the Web3 Foundation, said: “The framework suggested that almost all digital assets offered and sold for fundraising purposes were initially highly likely to constitute collateral when delivered to the first purchasers. Yet the framework also contained a compatible way forward – one that would allow a digital asset initially offered and sold as a security to be revalued at a later date. Under US federal securities laws, there was a possibility that it would no longer be a security. In other words, digital assets can be transformed.”
Over the next three years, the Web3 Foundation’s experience was positive, as it met regularly with the SEC and sought to break new ground and comply with US federal securities laws, including with respect to initial offers and sales, marketing and delivery. purchasers of tokens as securities, and treatment of retail purchasers, generally in line with public companies.
November 2022 marks the third anniversary of our engagement with the SEC. For three years we have met regularly with FinHub employees. In doing so, we’ve adopted an approach to compliance similar to our approach to technical development: heads down and dedicated, while setting the bar high. Since our inception, we have sought to break new ground in our interaction with the SEC, in accordance with US federal securities laws, including with respect to offers and sales, marketing and delivery to initial purchasers of tokens as securities, and processing of retail transactions. purchasers, generally in line with public companies.
“In the Web3 Foundation’s view, the current offering and sale of DOT, the original token of the Polkadot blockchain, are not securities transactions. DOT is being used for the purposes for which it was designed – including bidding and securing parachains and facilitating on-chain governance. Control of The Polkadot network has long been in the hands of DOT holders. Today, DOT is not a security. It is software,” Mr. Schoenönberger added.
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Disclaimer: Nothing in this press release is intended to be, and is not, an offer or sale of digital assets or securities. Likewise, nothing in this press release is intended to be, and is not, legal, investment or tax advice.
About Web 3.0
In 2014, Dr. Gavin Wood coined the term “Web 3.0” to describe a decentralized, trustless, serverless internet where users control their own data, identity and destiny. He presented this new vision because he believed that the current Internet infrastructure (i.e., Web 2.0) encouraged and facilitated the consolidation of power by a dominant group of for-profit corporations, many of which were instrumental in building such infrastructure. In Dr. Wood’s view, the Web 2.0 Internet failed to meet basic human expectations of privacy and authenticity, and not by accident, but by design.
About the Web3 Foundation
The Web3 Foundation funds research and development teams building the technology stack of the decentralized web, with an official mission to advance the vision of Web 3.0. The Web3 Foundation was established in Zug, Switzerland by Ethereum co-founder and former CTO Dr. Gavin Wood. For more information, visit web3.stiftelsen.
About Polkadot
Polkadot provides the technical advances necessary to make blockchain technology practical, accessible, scalable, interoperable and future-proof, removing limitations and barriers to entry, thereby stimulating innovation, increasing the decentralized technology space and bringing the Web3 vision to life.
