On April 11, Blockstack Token LLC (“Blockstack”) filed a preliminary offering circular with the SEC for a $50 million token offering under Regulation A of the Securities Act. The offering circular is now under review with the SEC and must be qualified (i.e., cleared) by the SEC before sales of Blockstack’s tokens (“Stacks Tokens”) can be effectuated under the program.

Blockstack’s offering circular is notable because it treats the Stacks Tokens as securities today but discloses that the issuer expects the Stacks Tokens will, at some point in the future, no longer be required to be treated as securities under the federal securities laws. This approach is consistent with recent SEC staff guidance, which stated that the analysis of whether a digital asset represents an investment contract (and thus, a security) may change over time, depending on how the asset is used, offered and sold. Blockstack states that it will refer to the Framework for “Investment Contract” Analysis of Digital Assets, recently published by the SEC’s Strategic Hub for Innovation and Financial Technology, for regulatory guidance in connection with making this determination.

If the SEC qualifies Blockstack’s offering under Regulation A, it will be the first time the SEC has done so for the offer and sale of a blockchain-native digital asset.