Finance

When Is a Digital Token a Security, and Why Does It Matter?

A seemingly technical question could shape the future of crypto.

SEC Chair Gary Gensler.
Photographer: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc/Getty Images

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By Pat Regnier

June 15, 2023 at 8:00 AM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

This article is part of the June 19, 2023 issue of businessweek.

The fight over crypto is boiling down to an exasperatingly fine legal point: whether digital coins are securities.

● If coins are securities, they’re subject to a raft of US regulations, including ones about financial disclosures and investor protection. And so are the exchanges where people trade them.