This would almost certainly fall under the definition of security under the '33 Act.
Besides this, the questionable practice of calling this coin "equity" and representing that it entitles holders that gives them some kind of ownership stake in companies funded with this coin on the website, while putting the disclaimers within another document, creates the impression that the issuers want people to think this is equity so they can raise BTC. As the founder has said in a comment, the majority of the swarm consists of non-native speakers at the moment, so this distinction would be lost on them. There seems to be demand for something like this, but the lack of details or research into relevant laws give me plenty of pause.
Can the founder (Joel) clarify his affiliation as well? His swarm bio at http://swarmcorp.com/team.html lists "#Harvard #Brown #Penn" but his LinkedIn profile seems to indicate that he did not actually get a degree from all of these institutions.
[Joel Dietz's] swarm bio at http://swarmcorp.com/team.html lists "#Harvard #Brown #Penn" but his LinkedIn profile seems to indicate that he did not actually get a degree from all of these institutions.
UPenn's 257th commencement program lists one Joel Dietz among their 2012 Master of Arts recipients [1]; and Brown's undergraduate East Asian Studies 2012 alumni newsletter mentions one Joel Dietz '04 having "just finished his M.A. in the East Asian Languages and Civilizations department at the University of Pennsylvania" [2].
The founder's affiliation with Harvard is less clear-cut: apparently he took an introductory Sanskrit course through the Summer School in 2012 [3,4], but it is unclear if he was affiliated in any other more substantive or relevant capacity.
For what it's worth, the founder's swarm bio now lists "#Brown #Penn #SalesforceMVP" instead; and an article from less than a month ago listed two different core team members than today [5].
Either way, it is paramount that business leaders be forthright about their academic credentials --remember Scott Thompson?--, especially in such a confidence-tricked industry, and especially when they purposedly cite them as a signal of technical ability and experience [6] --pointless credentialism, if you ask me.
There are lots of reasons for pause and our choice of the term "cryptoequity" was certainly because it does evoke the fuller idea of the potential behind these cryptoassets, something that you don't get with the weaker but more accurate "cryptotoken."
Although we've issued various statements clarifying the issues including a manifesto, cryptoequity whitepaper, and legal action plan, it remains fairly complex and something that is probably not approachable to the ordinary user. I'm hoping that changes with the video explanation that we are launching on July 10th.
As for me, I have my B.A. from Brown and M.A. from Penn and a smattering of various other institutions including Harvard.
Besides this, the questionable practice of calling this coin "equity" and representing that it entitles holders that gives them some kind of ownership stake in companies funded with this coin on the website, while putting the disclaimers within another document, creates the impression that the issuers want people to think this is equity so they can raise BTC. As the founder has said in a comment, the majority of the swarm consists of non-native speakers at the moment, so this distinction would be lost on them. There seems to be demand for something like this, but the lack of details or research into relevant laws give me plenty of pause.
Can the founder (Joel) clarify his affiliation as well? His swarm bio at http://swarmcorp.com/team.html lists "#Harvard #Brown #Penn" but his LinkedIn profile seems to indicate that he did not actually get a degree from all of these institutions.