SEC to examine companies that pivoted to blockchain

Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) head Jay Clayton said the agency is closely scrutinizing companies who have switched their names and business models to take advantage of mushroomed interest in cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology.

Clayton disparaged the recent trend in a speech he gave on Monday at the Securities Regulation Institute.

{mosads}“The SEC is looking closely at the disclosures of public companies that shift their business models to capitalize on the perceived promise of distributed ledger technology and whether the disclosures comply with the securities laws, particularly in the case of an offering,” Clayton said.

Following explosions in value for cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin, Ethereum and Ripple, some publicly traded companies jumped on the bandwagon trying to capitalize on the hype. The Long Island Iced Tea Corp.’s stock shot up after it changed its name to the Long Blockchain Corp.

Kodak, the photography company, announced a similar move, also increasing its share value.

In December, the SEC briefly suspended trading on the Crypto Company after its shares rose by 2,700 percent when it inked a deal to purchase a cryptocurrency platform.

Clayton also noted that he has seen “disturbing” examples of lawyers “assisting promoters in structuring offerings of products that have many of the key features of a securities offering, but call it an [initial coin offering].”

“I have instructed the SEC staff to be on high alert for approaches to [initial coin offerings] that may be contrary to the spirit of our securities laws and the professional obligations of the U.S. securities bar,” Clayton said.

The SEC chief had previously expressed discontent with such initial coin offerings (ICO), in which cryptocurrency tokens are offered, masquerading as initial public offerings of securities. In December, the agency took action against a food review company’s ICO, which the SEC said was actually just unregistered securities.