American CryptoFed is pressing the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to treat its Locke governance token registration as effective ahead of an Aug. 17 deadline — a date the nonprofit says marks the automatic 60-day effectiveness window under federal securities law.
The SEC’s Crypto Assets and Cyber Unit (the agency’s Crypto Task Force) says staff recently met with American CryptoFed DAO founders Scott Moeller and Xiaomeng Zhou to go over the group’s renewed registration push, the Locke token itself, and broader legal questions about decentralized organizations. The discussion also focused on the nonprofit’s long-running effort to bring Locke into the SEC’s reporting framework.
As part of that effort, American CryptoFed says it converted last month into a Wyoming unincorporated nonprofit association under the state’s UNA/DUNA Act — a restructuring the group describes as aimed at satisfying regulatory requirements after years of engagement with the agency. The organization also filed a Form 10 last month to register Locke as a reporting company under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. According to American CryptoFed, that filing should become automatically effective 60 days after submission, which sets Aug. 17 as the expected activation date unless the SEC intervenes first.
The filing follows an SEC decision in February to dismiss earlier administrative proceedings involving American CryptoFed. In its memo, the Crypto Task Force says that dismissal prompted the group to pursue alternative registration steps rather than abandon its push for federal compliance. American CryptoFed has been seeking SEC recognition for Locke since 2021, and says it revised parts of its proposal along the way — including adjustments influenced by SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce’s proposed token safe-harbor framework, which would give qualifying projects more breathing room before securities laws fully apply.
American CryptoFed told SEC staff it plans to make Locke tokens available for trading once regulatory clearance is secured. The group said initial token holders would be able to trade on Uniswap, the decentralized exchange, and acknowledged the compliance complexities that decentralized trading raises. To address those concerns, its presentation outlined how existing securities reporting mechanisms — specifically Forms 144, 3, 4 and 5 — could meet insider and other reporting obligations. The group also cited SEC guidance indicating the agency “will not normally intervene” in disputes over removal of restrictive legends from securities.
Beyond token registration, American CryptoFed continues to promote a broader vision: a decentralized monetary system operating alongside the Federal Reserve. The nonprofit says its model would link a stablecoin-backed network to goals such as eliminating inflation and deflation, cutting transaction costs, and supporting maximum employment.
Legislation could shape how realistic that vision becomes. American CryptoFed has pushed for progress on the CLARITY Act, arguing the bill would create a clearer regulatory framework for digital assets. Crypto-friendly lawmakers, including Senator Cynthia Lummis, have urged the Senate to advance the legislation before its August recess, though timing and the bill’s final form remain uncertain.
As Aug. 17 approaches, the outcome could set an important precedent for how DAOs and governance tokens navigate the SEC’s reporting regime — and how decentralized projects try to square on-chain trading with traditional securities obligations.
Read more AI-generated news on: undefined/news
