Virtual or Crypto Currencies and the Securities Laws

Over the years, a wide variety of nontraditional investments from orange groves to earthworms and scotch whiskey have been held to be securities. The securities laws' definition is expansive because of its inclusion of “investment contract” in the statutory definition and the courts' interpretation of that phrase. This article concludes that under most, if not all, circumstances, virtual or crypto currencies are likely to be securities. The article also explains the consequences under the securities laws of classifying a virtual or crypto currency as a security