原文：https://www.coindesk.com/regulators-are-slowly-starting-to-get-it-utility-tokens-are-real/
Michael J. Casey is the chairman of CoinDesk's advisory board and a senior advisor for blockchain research at MIT's Digital Currency Initiative.
The following article originally appeared in CoinDesk Weekly, a custom-curated newsletter delivered every Sunday exclusively to our subscribers.
Michael J. Casey是CoinDesk咨询委员会主席和麻省理工学院数字货币计划区块链研究高级顾问。
以下文章最初出现在 CoinDesk Weekly中，这是一个定制的时事通讯，每周日专门发给我们的订阅者。
"I want to quash this false narrative that's been going around for the past two years that you can separate blockchain from crypto. You can't."
“我想要废除过去两年一直存在的错误叙述，你可以将区块链与加密区分开来，实际上你是做不到的。”
No, that's not a bitcoin maximalist, a HODLer or a crypto-anarchist talking. It's a regulator.
And Sopnendu Mohanty, the chief fintech officer of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, wasn't preaching to the crypto-converted, either, when he issued this reminder that native tokens are integral to a decentralized blockchain.
不，这不是比特币极端主义者，HODLer或加密无政府主义者的谈话，而是来自于监管机构。
新加坡金融管理局的首席金融科技官Sopnendu Mohanty也没有宣扬加密货币的转换，当他发出这一提醒时，原生代币是去中心化区块链不可或缺的一部分。
Rather, he was addressing a room full of curious but wary central bankers and international development officials, all of whom were attending a G20 forum in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on technology and financial inclusion.
相反，他正在一个充满好奇但谨慎的央行行长和国际发展官员的房间里讲话，所有这些官员都参加了沙特阿拉伯利雅得关于技术和金融包容性的G20论坛。
It was refreshing to hear someone in the official sector take issue with the simplistic "blockchain without bitcoin" refrain that gets sold to corporate and government leaders who don't always realize that their problems might be better solved with a less cumbersome distributed database.
听到官方部门的某些人对简单的“无币区块链”的问题提出质疑，这种情况令人耳目一新，因为他们并不总是意识到他们的问题可能会通过一个不那么繁琐的分布式数据库来解决。
That wasn't only because it's important for people to understand how native digital tokens are an integral part of the incentive and security models upon which open, permissionless and censorship-resistant transaction-recording systems are built. It was also because Mohanty's intent was to help shape sensible crypto regulation.
这不仅是因为人们了解到原生数字代币是构建激励和安全模型的一个组成部分非常重要，以及这些模型构建了开放，无权限和审查制度的交易记录系统，也是因为Mohanty的意图是帮助塑造合理的加密货币规则。
He was urging regulators to adopt nuanced policies that recognize certain crypto-tokens belong to a new type of technology for improving economic coordination, one that can't be jammed into a decades-old securities law framework. And it's also encouraging to see evidence that he's not alone in thinking this way.
他敦促监管机构采取细致入微的政策，承认某些加密代币作为一种新型技术，可以改善经济协同，即使这种技术无法直接融入数十年前的证券法框架。同样令人鼓舞的是，看到有证据证明他并不是唯一一个以这种方式思考的人。
Various regulatory authorities around the world are opening up to the idea that, when tokens have a clearly functional role within a blockchain network, it's better to manage them with existing consumer protection and anti-money-laundering laws than with burdensome securities regulation.
世界各地的各种监管机构正在对这个观点持开放态度，即当代币在区块链网络中具有明显的功能性作用时，最好是使用现有的消费者保护和反洗钱法来管理它们，而不是使用繁琐的证券监管。
To be sure, they're doing so somewhat nervously; many are understandably concerned about investors being duped by scammy ICOs in Wild West token markets.
Nonetheless, their gradual yet earnest attempts to define these concepts open the door to blockchain technology's more meaningful integration into the global economy.
可以肯定的是，他们在做这些的时候，感觉到紧张，很多人都担心投资者会被狂野的西方令牌市场中的骗子ICO欺骗。
尽管如此，他们逐步并认真地尝试去定义这些概念，以图能使区块链技术更有意义地融入全球经济打开了大门。
Forward-thinking states
前瞻性的国家
Here, Singapore's central bank is leading the way. In a March speech, MAS Managing Director Ravi Menon laid out a clear rationale for distinguishing "good" tokens from "the bad and the ugly."
在这方面，新加坡的中央银行正在引领潮流。在3月份的演讲中，MAS董事总经理拉维·梅农（Ravi Menon）提出了一个明确的理由，即将“好”的代币与“不好的 ”代币区分开来。
The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority, or FINMA, has also been proactive. It came up with a useful taxonomy that divides tokens into three categories: payment tokens (bitcoin, litecoin and co.), utility tokens (ether and, in theory at least, various kinds of ERC-20 tokens) and asset tokens, with only the latter being subject to securities laws.
在瑞士金融市场监督管理局，简称FINMA，也一直积极主动。它提出了一个有用的分类法，将令牌分为三类：支付型代币（比特币，莱特币和合币），实用性代币（以太坊，理论上至少是各种ERC-20类型的代币）和资产型代币，只有后者受证券法管辖。
Other developed-country jurisdictions are also wading in. Both Malta and the U.K. dependency Gibraltar have shown an open regulatory posture toward ICOs and token exchanges. Meanwhile, Caribbean countries such as Bermuda are developing regulatory frameworks for tokens that would promote blockchain innovation while preserving their status as trusted domiciles for foreign financial institutions.
其他发达国家的司法管辖区也在悄悄进入。马耳他和 英国的属地直布罗陀，都对ICO和代币交换表现出开放的监管态势。与此同时，百慕大等加勒比国家，正在制定令牌的监管框架，以促进区块链创新，同时保持其作为外国金融机构可信赖的住所的地位。
Governments are also taking action at the provincial level. Wyoming's state legislature passed legislation defining utility tokens as a new asset class and exempting them from securities regulations.
政府也在省级采取行动。怀俄明州立法机构通过立法将公用事业代币定义为新的资产类别，并使其免于证券监管。
Until last month, it appeared that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission was taking the exact opposite approach. In February, Chairman Jay Clayton, speaking before the Senate, said, "I believe every ICO I've seen is a security." The implication was clear: most, if not all, of the hundreds of tokens already sold in this manner should have registered with the SEC and complied with related disclosure and compliance requirements.
直到上个月，美国证券交易委员会似乎采取了完全相反的做法。今年二月，主席杰伊克莱顿在参议院发言时说：“ 我相信我所看到的每一个ICO都是一种安全保障。” 其含义很明确：以这种方式销售的数百个代币中的大多数（如果不是全部）应该在美国证券交易委员会注册并遵守相关的披露和合规要求。
In stoking fears of a dragnet approach from the SEC against all tokens, this statement prompted ICO issuers to ring-fence themselves from the U.S. markets. It also gave a boost to purveyors of "security tokens," who don't pretend to be inventing anything more than a more efficient means of selling securities to investors.
由于担心美国证券交易委员会对所有代币采取拉网性的统一做法，这一声明促使ICO发行人将自己与美国市场隔离开来。它还推动了“证券型代币”的提供者，假装没有投资任何东西，除非能有一种更有效的方式向投资者出售证券型代币。
But since then, the SEC has also softened its stance. Clayton later told CNBC that bitcoin would not be classified as a security. And, then, in a landmark speech last month, William Hinman, the SEC's director of the Division of Corporate Finance, answered a question that had been nagging the ethereum community. Hinman said that although ether was a security at the time of the ethereum proto-ICO in 2014, it no longer met that definition because of how it now functions within the ethereum network.
但从那以后，美国证券交易委员会也软化了自己的立场。克莱顿后来告诉CNBC，比特币不会被归类为证券。然后，在上个月的一次具有里程碑意义的演讲中，美国证券交易委员会企业融资部主任威廉·欣曼回答了一个一直困扰着以太坊社区的问题。Hinman说，尽管以太坊是2014年以原始ICO发行的证券，但由于它现在在以太坊网络中的运作方式，它不再符合这一定义。
This was not as proactive as other jurisdictions' moves to explicitly carve out the concept of a utility token. Hinman was merely defining what ether was not. But by coming to that conclusion, he had recognized the unique qualities of this particular token: how ether is a kind of "crypto fuel," used to pay for the decentralized computation by which smart contracts are executed on the ethereum platform.
这并不像其他司法管辖区明确划分实用型令牌概念那样积极主动。欣曼只是定义了以太坊不是什么。但为得到那个结论，他已经认识到这个特殊标记的独特品质：以太坊是如何一种“加密燃料”，用于支付在以太坊平台上执行智能合约的去中心化计算。
What's important is that regulators are doing their homework and starting to recognize there's at least potentially something different going on here from what they're used to seeing. There's a lot of learning still to come, but light bulbs are quietly going off in different corners of the regulatory world.
重要的是，监管机构正在做他们的功课，并开始认识到，至少可能会从他们习以为常的经验中，看到一些不同的东西。还有很多东西要学习，但是灯泡在监管世界的不同角落里悄然熄灭。
Whether you're in the camp that welcomes regulatory clarity to foster public confidence in this technology or among those in the crypto community who see government engagement as anathema to a system of money originally designed to bypass the state, this emerging regulatory awareness represents a seminal moment.
无论您是在欢迎监管明确的阵营中，还是为了培养公众对这项技术的信心，还是加密社区中那些将政府参与视为最初旨在绕过国家的金钱系统的诅咒的人，这种新兴的监管意识代表了一种开创性的时刻。
The race is on
竞赛开始了
Clearly, many countries taking these steps have their eyes on the potential economic gains generated by the freewheeling ICO market, one that has raised $20 billion so far and which, with $275 billion in (admittedly poorly measured) market capitalization, has come to constitute a significant parallel capital market. There are tax windfalls to be had and there's the real prize of attracting innovation to their shores.
很明显，采取这些措施的许多国家都把注意力集中在随心所欲的ICO市场所产生的潜在经济收益上，目前已经筹集了200亿美元，其中市值为2750亿美元（公认的衡量标准不佳）的市值已经形成了重要的平行资本市场。有税收的意外收获，并有吸引创新的奖励。
They need to be careful, though, as this is an exceptionally fleet-footed form of capital. They risk encouraging global "regulatory arbitrage." When a technology is as geography-agnostic as this, its users will often choose their home base depending on where regulation is lightest, stoking competition among jurisdictions. Given the inordinate number of scammers in the ICO business, the danger is that the worst players gain too much freedom and, by extension, too much influence over how this industry is broadly perceived.
但是，他们需要小心，因为这是一种特殊的基础资本形式。他们冒着鼓励全球“监管套利”的风险。当一项技术与地理无关时，其用户通常会根据监管最轻的地方选择自己的基地，从而加剧司法管辖区之间的竞争。鉴于ICO业务中的诈骗者数量过多，危险在于最差的参与者获得过多的自由，并且通过扩展，对这个行业的广泛认知影响太大。
In times past, U.S. regulators could rise above such problems. The sheer amount of money raised in the U.S. left global actors with no option but to comply with their rules just to ensure access to it. But with foreign capital markets deeper in the age of globalization, globally distributed blockchain development teams are deciding that the U.S. just might not be worth it. We are already seeing ICO issuers deciding that they can comfortably raise all they need from Asian investors.
在过去，美国监管机构可能会超越这些问题。在美国筹集的巨额资金让全球参与者别无选择，只能遵守他们的规则，以确保能参与进来。但随着外国资本市场在全球化时代的深入，全球分布式区块链开发团队正在决定美国是否能如愿。我们已经看到ICO发行人，他们可以从亚洲投资者那里轻松获得他们所需要的一切。
Where this is all pointing, I hope, is to a coordinated international effort to better harmonize the regulatory approach.
我希望，这一切都指向协调一致的国际努力，以更好地协调监管方法。
Mohanty told me he sees six or so of the world's more important regulators coming to a broad agreement on utility tokens and on what distinguishes them from payment and security vehicles. There's a need, for example, to define pressing questions about what level of platform functionality, and when, a token must have to earn exempt utility status. And, beyond the securities laws exemptions, regulators should agree on strategies to apply existing consumer protection laws to ensure that ICO issuers are still held to account for the promises they make to people who put money into their token pre-sales.
Mohanty告诉我，他看到世界上六个左右的更重要的监管机构就实用性代币以及它们与支付和证券工具的区别达成了广泛的协议。例如，需要定义关于什么级别的平台功能的紧迫问题，以及何时，令牌必须获得免除实用程序状态。而且，除了证券法豁免之外，监管机构应就应用现有消费者保护法的策略达成一致，以确保ICO发行人仍然要对他们对将钱投入其代币预售的人所做的承诺负责。
Some have forcefully argued that carving out explicit legislative definitions of a utility token – a laWyoming – overly constrains innovators to those definitions and creates contradictions across jurisdictions. Better to rely on existing laws than to add to the body of legislation, they say. But such concerns should not prevent regulators from creating clearly signaled guidelines to participants in the blockchain development community about how they will apply existing law to different scenarios.
有些人强烈主张的是雕刻出一个实用型代币的明确的法律定义- 一拉怀俄明-过分限制创新者的定义和创建跨辖区的矛盾。他们说，最好依靠现有法律，而不是增加立法机构。但是，这些担忧不应妨碍监管机构为区块链开发社区的参与者制定明确的指导方针，指导他们如何将现有法律应用于不同的情景。
There's a still a lot of work needed to improve and scale blockchain technology and to foster broad confidence among future buyers of crypto tokens. Best practices among issuers, exchanges and investors/buyers need to be developed. But encouraging the expansion of utility token models is a worthy goal, one that's much harder to achieve if the burdens of securities laws were to be imposed on all those who create them.
还需要做很多工作来改进和扩展区块链技术，并培养未来加密代币买家的广泛信心。需要开发者，交易所和投资者/买家之间的最佳实践。但是，鼓励扩展实用型代币模型是一个有价值的目标，如果将证券法的负担强加给所有创造它们的人，那么这个目标就更难实现。
To understand this, one need look no further than the financial inclusion objectives of the Riyadh-based conference that Mohanty spoke at. Organized by the Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion under the leadership of Argentina, which holds the G20's current presidency, the event explored, among other goals, how to encourage entrepreneurship in low-income, developing countries.
为了理解这一点，人们只需看看Mohanty所讲的利雅得会议的金融包容性目标。该项目由阿根廷领导的全球金融包容性伙伴关系组织，该组织担任G20现任主席，该活动除其他目标外，还探讨了如何鼓励低收入发展中国家的企业家精神。
If we want the whole world, include enterprising people in such countries, to have access to the powerful economic advantages of decentralized, peer-to-peer applications and business models, regulatory barriers to entry must be softened.
如果我们想要整个世界，包括雇佣这些国家的富有进取精神的人，获得去中心化，点对点的应用程序和商业模式的强大经济优势，必须软化这些监管壁垒以让他们得以进入。
This is, in other words, a cause for humanity.
换句话说，这是人性使然。
我是一名前华为无线产品经理，现在All In区块链，专攻项目测评领域，和您一起看透区块链TOP1～TOP500项目，从技术、产品、市场、团队、Token、社区等维度分析，看清项目价值和增长空间，不断优化投资策略，在区块链行业共同成长。
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