The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is seeking both large and small companies that can provide blockchain data “to support the SEC’s efforts to monitor risk, improve compliance, and inform Commission policy with respect to digital assets,” the agency announced.
Specifically, the SEC wants tech solutions that “extracts blockchain data and parses this data to make it easily reviewable.” Here are the requirements for the data provision, according to the SEC:
- Provide data extracts on a recurring basis for the most widely used blockchain ledgers, based on transaction volume.
- Cleanse and normalize data to enable review and exploration.
Provide capability to derive insights from the available data, including attribution data (i.e. to whom a particular address belongs). - Provide a means to demonstrate data provided is accurate and complete.
Vendors interested in responding, must do so by Feb. 14. You can find more info here.
The SEC has been ramping up its efforts to provide oversight over cryptocurrencies, initial coin offerings (ICOs) and other blockchain-powered tools. In June, the agency named Valerie A. Szczepanik as Associate Director of the Division of Corporation Finance and Senior Advisor for Digital Assets and Innovation, making her the SEC’s first advisor on cryptocurrencies.
The SEC’s Office of Compliance and Inspections and Examinations (OCIE) has also identified digital assets (or cryptocurrencies) as one of its examination priorities for 2019, noting that “through high level inquiries, OCIE will take steps to identify market participants offering, selling, trading, and managing these products or considering or actively seeking to offer these products and then assess the extent of their activities.”
Meanwhile, SEC Chairman Jay Clayton said in a speech on Dec. 6 that while he believed “ICOs can be effective ways for entrepreneurs and others to raise capital,” but added that “the novel technological nature of an ICO does not change the fundamental point that, when a security is being offered, our securities laws must be followed.”
However, Canadian messaging app Kik is gearing up for a court battle to challenge the SEC’s authority to ICO’s that could have far-reaching implications, not just for ICOs, but for the cryptocurrency market in general.
Photo: Paul Morigi/Brookings Institution