The SEC has just put out in investigative report stating that "DAO tokens, a digital asset, were securities" . They are fixing to start cracking down
The Securities and Exchange Commission issued an investigative report today cautioning market participants that offers and sales of digital assets by "virtual" organizations are subject to the requirements of the federal securities laws. Such offers and sales, conducted by organizations using distributed ledger or blockchain technology, have been referred to, among other things, as "Initial Coin Offerings" or "Token Sales." Whether a particular investment transaction involves the offer or sale of a security – regardless of the terminology or technology used – will depend on the facts and circumstances, including the economic realities of the transaction.
It looks to me like it's finally happening, we all knew the USA SEC would eventually try this, and it seems to be happening now
The DAO and associated entities and individuals violated federal securities laws with unregistered offers and sales of DAO Tokens in exchange for "Ether," a virtual currency. The DAO has been described as a "crowdfunding contract" but it would not have met the requirements of the Regulation Crowdfunding exemption because, among other things, it was not a broker-dealer or a funding portal registered with the SEC and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.
Here is the link to the report https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2017-131
