How Smart Contracts Could Reinvent Securities Disclosure
Speakers
Summary
- Commissioner Hester Peirce argues the crypto market should not wait for regulators to define "good information"; private sector should develop best practices for token project disclosure proactively.
- Peirce emphasizes that the information needed to evaluate a token is different from that needed to evaluate a company stock, requiring new, thoughtful frameworks.
- Sumeera Younis highlights a significant "information asymmetry" problem in crypto due to the lack of a regulatory disclosure framework.
- Younis sees a major flaw in the traditional securities disclosure regime: it produces information that is neither digestible nor accessible to the common retail investor.
- A core, bullish thesis is that smart contract technology can fundamentally reinvent and improve disclosure, making it interactive, layered, and tailored.
- Younis expresses explicit, strong enthusiasm for smart contract-based disclosure solutions, inviting teams building in this area to engage with the SEC.
- The implication is that development in on-chain, programmable disclosure tools is a high-potential niche that could shape future SEC rulemaking.
- A key uncertainty is how and when the SEC will formally address this in guidance or rules, creating regulatory risk for projects.
