VaultoTM

Glossary

Last updated: 2026-05-18.

Plain-language definitions of acronyms and terms used across this KB.

A

  • Accredited Investor — Person/entity meeting income, net-worth, or sophistication tests under Rule 501. Eligible for Reg D 506 offerings.
  • AML — Anti-Money Laundering. U.S. regime under the Bank Secrecy Act, enforced by FinCEN.
  • Anti-fraud rules — Section 17 of the '33 Act, Section 10(b) + Rule 10b-5 of the '34 Act. Apply to misstatements in connection with sale of any security or investment contract.
  • ART — Asset-Referenced Token. MiCA category for stablecoins backed by multiple currencies/assets.
  • ATS — Alternative Trading System. SEC-registered non-exchange trading venue. Operated by a broker-dealer under Regulation ATS.

B

  • BD / Broker-Dealer — Entity registered with SEC and FINRA to engage in securities transactions.
  • BitLicense — New York's virtual currency business activity license under 23 NYCRR 200.
  • Blue-sky law — State-level securities registration laws.

C

  • CASP — Crypto-Asset Service Provider. MiCA-authorized firm providing crypto-asset services in the EU.
  • CFTC — Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Regulates derivatives and (per Project Crypto) commodities, including digital commodities.
  • CLARITY Act — Digital Asset Market Clarity Act of 2025. Pending market-structure legislation. (14)
  • Common enterprise — Howey prong. Horizontal (pooling) or vertical (investor-promoter alignment) commonality.
  • Corp Fin — SEC Division of Corporation Finance. Issues many of the 2025 crypto staff statements.
  • Covered Stablecoin — Stablecoin meeting the April 2025 Corp Fin five-factor test. (06)

D

  • DAO — Decentralized Autonomous Organization. Smart-contract-governed entity. May or may not have legal wrapper.
  • DePIN — Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Network.
  • DFAL — California Digital Financial Assets Law (effective July 1, 2026).
  • DFPI — California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation.
  • Digital Commodity — Project Crypto Bucket 1. Token whose value comes from a functional, decentralized network.
  • Digital Collectible — Project Crypto Bucket 2. Cultural / use-value NFT or token.
  • Digital Tool — Project Crypto Bucket 3. Practical-function token (membership, ticket, credential).
  • Digital Security / Tokenized Security — Project Crypto Bucket 4. On-chain representation of a §2(a)(1) security.
  • DTSP — Singapore Digital Token Service Provider (FSMA 2022).

E

  • EMT — E-Money Token. MiCA category for single-fiat stablecoins.
  • Exchange Act — Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Governs secondary trading, exchanges, broker-dealers, transfer agents.

F

  • FCA — UK Financial Conduct Authority.
  • FinCEN — Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (Treasury). MSB registration + BSA enforcement.
  • FinHub — SEC's Strategic Hub for Innovation and Financial Technology. Issues digital-asset no-action letters.
  • FIT21 — Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act. Passed House 2024; predecessor to CLARITY.
  • Form 1-A — Reg A+ qualification filing.
  • Form ATS — Initial filing to operate an alternative trading system.
  • Form C — Reg CF crowdfunding offering filing.
  • Form D — Reg D notice filing (15 days post first sale).
  • Form S-1 — Standard registration statement for an IPO or registered offering.

G

  • GENIUS Act — Guiding and Establishing National Innovations for U.S. Stablecoins Act. Signed 2025-07-18. (14)
  • General solicitation — Public marketing of a securities offering. Allowed in Reg D 506(c), Reg A+, Reg CF; prohibited in Reg D 506(b).

H

  • Howey test — Investment contract test from SEC v. W.J. Howey Co., 328 U.S. 293 (1946). The foundational analysis. (10)

I

  • Investment contract — A scheme involving investment of money in a common enterprise with reasonable expectation of profits from others' efforts. The flexible §2(a)(1) catch-all that captures most token sales.
  • Investment Company Act ('40 Act) — Governs pooled investment vehicles. Separate analysis from Howey; if you pool assets, you may trip the '40 Act regardless of token classification.

M

  • MAS — Monetary Authority of Singapore.
  • MiCA — Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (EU). Regulation 2023/1114.
  • MSB — Money Services Business. FinCEN registration category covering money transmitters and certain crypto activity.
  • MTL — Money Transmitter License (state-level).

N

  • No-action letter — Staff response that it will not recommend enforcement against the requesting party on the specified facts. Binding on staff, not on Commission, not on courts.
  • Note — Debt instrument. Reves family-resemblance test, not Howey, applies.

P

  • PoW / PoS — Proof-of-Work / Proof-of-Stake. Consensus mechanisms.
  • PPSI — Permitted Payment Stablecoin Issuer (GENIUS Act).
  • Programmatic sales — Anonymous on-exchange sales (Ripple ruling). Generally not investment contracts on their own.
  • Project Crypto — SEC's Atkins-era initiative to clarify and modernize crypto-asset regulation. Launched July 2025.

Q

  • QIB — Qualified Institutional Buyer (Rule 144A). Institutions with $100M+ in securities.
  • Qualifying cryptoasset — UK FCA category triggering the new regulated activities (in force October 2027).

R

  • Reg A+ — Regulation A. Mini-IPO exemption up to $20M (Tier 1) or $75M (Tier 2). (12)
  • Reg ATS — Regulation ATS. Rules governing alternative trading systems.
  • Reg CF — Regulation Crowdfunding. Up to $5M in 12 months via funding portal.
  • Reg D — Regulation D private-placement exemptions. Rules 504, 506(b), 506(c).
  • Reg S — Regulation S. Safe harbor for offshore offerings to non-U.S. persons.
  • Reves test — Family-resemblance test for whether a note is a security. Reves v. Ernst & Young, 494 U.S. 56 (1990).
  • RWA — Real-World Asset. Often used for tokenized off-chain assets (treasuries, real estate, commodities).

S

  • SAB 121 — Staff Accounting Bulletin 121 (2022). Required gross-up of custodied crypto. Rescinded by SAB 122 (2025-01-23).
  • SAB 122 — Successor to SAB 121. Contingency-accounting approach.
  • Safe harbor — A defined set of conditions; meeting them assures non-enforcement.
  • SAFT — Simple Agreement for Future Tokens. Common 2017–2019 structure; survived as a Reg D security wrapping a pre-launch token. See Telegram / Kik cases.
  • SCA — UAE Securities and Commodities Authority.
  • SPDI — Special Purpose Depository Institution (Wyoming). State-chartered, full-reserve digital-asset bank.
  • Sufficient decentralization — Hinman doctrine: a network is sufficiently decentralized when purchasers no longer reasonably expect a person/group to carry out essential managerial or entrepreneurial efforts. Now operationalized via Project Crypto Bucket 1.

T

  • Token Safe Harbor 2.0 — Commissioner Peirce's 2021 proposal for a three-year exemption for early-stage network development. Not adopted; conceptual ancestor of Atkins's 2026 startup exemption.
  • Tokenized Security — On-chain representation of a §2(a)(1) security. Project Crypto Bucket 4. (05)
  • Transfer agent — Person/entity registered under §17A(c) to maintain securities ownership records. Required for tokenized securities.

V

  • VARA — Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (Dubai).
  • VASP — Virtual Asset Service Provider (FATF / international term).

§-citation primer

  • §2(a)(1) of the Securities Act of 1933 — Definition of "security." Includes "investment contract" as a catch-all.
  • §3(a)(10) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 — Parallel definition of "security."
  • §5 of the Securities Act — Registration requirement for any "offer or sale" of a security.
  • §15(a) of the Exchange Act — Broker-dealer registration.
  • §6 of the Exchange Act — National securities exchange registration.
  • §17A(c) of the Exchange Act — Transfer agent registration.
  • Rule 10b-5 — General anti-fraud.
  • Rule 144 — Resale of restricted/control securities.
  • Rule 15c3-3 — Broker-dealer Customer Protection Rule.
  • Rules 17a-3 / 17a-4 — Broker-dealer recordkeeping.