Muneeb Ali, CEO of Blockstack, is attempting to build a decentralized internet where users have control over their own data. In this interview with Coindesk’s Leigh Cuen he discusses how his firm’s native utility token gained Reg A+ regulatory approval and what that means for the industry.

“This is the first time ever that a crypto asset got qualification from the SEC that it’s okay to distribute this to the general public. I do think that potentially this can help mature the industry and a lot of other projects can benefit from the work that we have we have done,” Ali said.

While earning a PhD in dissipated systems and studying securities regulation Ali said he had an “Ah-Ha moment” when he “realized that technology can adapt faster to regulations then regulations can adapt to the technology.” It’s for that reason Ali is weary that future use of the Blockstack network may “be impacted by the initial framework used to distribute the token.”

That being said, though the SEC has placed regulatory constraints and compliance requirements on the token, the filing is still beneficial as it “reduces information asymmetry between project insiders like myself and the general public.”

“I think in general I am obviously very optimistic about the coming years. Just like our SEC qualification went through… I remain very confident that the same would happen for exchanges as well,” he said. “So we will actually have more accountability [and] more transparency. … I look at it as an industry that is maturing, right. You’re already doing so many innovative things you can reuse lessons from past decades for why it’s a good thing to have discipline and why it’s a good thing to be transparent… all regulations are not bad.”

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